From The Beginning
by 1337kitsune
Summary: From the Beginning to the End. From enemies to friends to so much more. This is the story of how a seemingly insignificant fight can lead to something never expected, and of course Clockwork saw this coming all along. (Iambic Prose buildup. Ghostwriter x Danny Phantom)
1. New Beginnings

Yoo! New Danny Phantom story, and this one is Iambic Prose! So I was doing a bunch of Phluff Week prompts over on Tumblr and I thought, why not put them here since there's sure to be more? So enjoy some lovely Iambic Prose build-up that starts with them friends!

* * *

**New Beginnings**

**::**

"Wait- What?! I actually have to go and-"

"Yes Daniel. You do." Clockwork's tone booked no room for argument, which Danny realized since he slumped down in his seat. Honestly. It wasn't _all_ his fault. Well, a bit of it might have been his fault, but no one had to know that. Except the Master of Time apparently.

"Well- But- Can I please not?!" Danny all but begged, his upper half leaning off the back of his chair as he looked to his mentor with pleading eyes. Clockwork merely raised an eyebrow, Danny letting out another pitiful whining sound. "He'll kill me if I even step foot in that library of his! Come on cut me some slack here, I wasn't all that well that day!"

"If you mean you were angry due to your parents fighting and refused to swallow your pride and apologize, then yes, you weren't well that day." More whining. Clockwork shook his head, turning his back on the young teen. His student would do what was right, even if he treated it as unpleasant a task as having teeth pulled.

"Okay, yeah, I was a dick- A big one! But can't I just send a card or something?" Danny tried, frowning at the lack of response. Great. He really was going to have to go and apologize to the Ghostwriter. Just perfect. The ghost had only been released from jail last night, having been kicked out due to not being that much of a threat.

The new year wasn't starting off quite as Danny had expected, having to go and apologize to the one who had almost destroyed his Christmas and trap him in a poem. Groaning Danny buried his face in the soft, plush fabric of the chair Clockwork had kept in the corner for him once he had started visiting the time ghost.

"Clooockwooork." The halfa's tone was pleading and begging in equal amounts. Clockwork, instead of feeling annoyance, only felt amusement. Honestly, the boy was being ridiculous at this point.

"You will go and apologize to the Ghostwriter, Daniel. There is a reason and you shall see it, in time." Oh man. He was using the time metaphors. Now it was serious. Letting his legs form into his ghostly tail Danny floated into the air, moving to hover behind Clockwork.

"Is this one of those 'has to happen' moments that will lead to a future that has the most optimistic outcome or whatever? Cause if so that's a bit of a far stretch, I mean, Ghostwriter? What would me being on friendly terms with him accomplish?!" Danny frowned at his mentor's laugh, having not expected that.

Clockwork smiled, ruffling the small teen's hair. Oh if Danny only knew. "All is as it should be, young one." Deciding on a dignified huff Danny flew towards the entrance, grumbling under his breath as Clockwork's laughter echoed throughout the time halls.

With his speed it only took a short flight until he was hovering outside of the Ghostwriter's library, hesitation and uncertainty radiating from his form. He still had time to run away and put this off as long as possible, although... Clockwork has used the 'all as it should be' line. That meant this was meant to happen, it needed to happen.

Great.

"Well, here goes nothing I guess." Sucking in a deep breath, out of human instinct more than need of air, Danny knocked on the elegant wooden doors. The knocking noise echoed around the area, small and soft as it had been. That was one thing, Danny supposed. It was impossible to be quiet in the Ghost Zone. Dead noise was like an echo here. "Okay, well, I tried!"

The teen didn't even get the chance to turn on his heel before the doors slowly opened, a curious bespectacled ghost in the doorway. The two blinked blankly at one another, Danny taking in his appearance. He actually looked quite human, if not for the light purple aura that seemed to coat his entire being. And the pointy ears, but, still.

"Um...hi?" Danny could have punched himself, really, he could have. Staring at someone who he had caused to end up in jail and the best he could come up with was a questionable hello. Brilliant. Ghostwriter just blinked again, looking slightly weary at the ghost boy that was standing on his doorstep. What in Pariah's name had he done now?!

"In my defense-"

"Look I just came here-"

"Oh, uh, sorry-"

"No, no, my fault-"

The two became quiet once again, the awkward silence even worse than before. Danny, in a desperate attempt to avoid the other's gaze, looked into the library.

"Um, spring cleaning?" Ghostwriter blinked at the words, glancing behind him and letting out a nervous chuckle at the sight. Books were stacked everywhere and entire shelves were empty.

"Of sorts. A few days away from home allows one to see just how much dust has collected once they return." Danny nodded, wincing at the mention of his brief jail visit.

"Um, s-speaking of that, uh, I kinda wanted to, um- C-Can we talk?" There. That was a good start, right? Really it was shameful just how nervous he was about apologizing, but he was a rather proud person he had to admit. Especially when it came to ghost fights.

"O-Oh, um, s-sure. Come on in, just, um, watch the books, please?" Danny blushed, remembering the last time he had been around one of Ghostwriter's books. Not his proudest moment. Nodding he carefully took to the air, making sure to stay away from any shelves that could topple over.

Ghostwriter watched him for a few seconds as he allowed the doors to close before returning to dusting shelves and filling them with books. Danny was quiet as he watched the older ghost. A few books, the tattered ones that looked to be in need of repair, he placed upon a nearby desk. Danny floated a bit closer to these, slightly smiling.

"You know, my sister told me that a book that's falling apart is the happiest. Because those are the ones that are being read the most." The halfa glanced up, smiling nervously at the other's gaze. "Heh, she's a total bookworm so I tend to pick things like that up from her. S-Sorry."

"A-Ah, no, it's fine. It's true, anyhow," Ghostwriter smiled, placing another book on the pile. "The worn ones have the best stories, I've found." Danny chuckled at that, nodding in agreement.

Another silence fell over them, although this one was less awkward and more of a peaceful, content silence. Danny watched Ghostwriter again, feeling an increase of guilt for each minute that passed. He couldn't believe he had been so harsh as to destroy one of the man's books, which seemed to be what he loved most above all else.

"Sorry."

Ghostwriter paused at the word, looking over to Danny who had his legs crossed and was floating in mid-air. The teen still refused to touch down and risk harming another book, instead he hovered near the broken ones, staring at them contemplatively. Danny glanced up at the other's look and let out a small, sad smile.

"Sorry, for destroying your book. I- I can be kind of a dick around the holidays, especially where it concerns Christmas." Ghostwriter blinked at that, remembering the parts about Danny's past that he had written in as the poem had been going. With his childhood the way it had been it was no wonder the boy hated Christmas as he did. "I shouldn't have taken my anger out on you, and I definitely should have apologized, so, I'm sorry."

There. That hadn't been so hard. Just a complete sense of guilt and a overwhelming feeling of disappointment in himself. Nothing to it. He was used to feeling those two emotions anyways.

"I apologize as well." Wait...what? Eyes darting to Ghostwriter's the ghost smiled, scratching the back of his head in absent gesture. "I tend to overreact at times, especially when it comes to matters such as my books."

"Wha- No! It's not you fault! Books are your obsession!" Danny wasn't sure who was more surprised, him or the Ghostwriter. Especially since it had been Danny who had spoken. "I mean, of course you're gonna act like that, not to mention I was a total jerk for destroying your book and then being _glad_ about it!"

The teen fidgeted as he gazed down at the wooden floors. He hadn't planned on his outburst but it was true anyhow. Even he knew how precious a ghost's obsession was to them.

Ghostwriter watched the teen, slowly smiling. Perhaps he had been a bit quick to judge the fledgling hero. He obviously wasn't as self-centered as he had thought if he was apologizing and taking all the blame for what had happened.

"The blame lies in both parties, so how about we agree to forgive and forget, yes?" Danny nodded eagerly, happy to put the whole mess behind him. Ghostwriter grinned, shelving another book as he slowly smirked. Chuckling he sent a wink to the boy. "The rewrite was better anyhow."

Danny was silent for all of two seconds before he was laughing loudly and hard enough for him to land on the floor. Still laughing after his fall Ghostwriter just shook his head, letting out a few chuckles of his own. Danny Phantom really was 'good', he supposed.

The next hour passed between the two with a flurry of jokes, jibs, and stupid stories. Sometime during the everlasting snark contest Danny had moved to help Ghostwriter with his books, the older ghost not even giving a token of protest when the teen had started stacking books and dusting shelves.

All too soon it was late and Danny knew he would have to leave now if he didn't want to be late getting home. Shelving one last book he floated back and gazed at the progress the two had made. Only half of the front room had been cleaned, and Danny knew there had to be countless rooms scattered around the library.

Whistling softly the teen shook his head, "We have quite the job ahead of us, huh." Ghostwriter stopped in his tracks, blinking at the words. He would have thought he heard wrong if the teen hadn't spoken so clearly.

"'We'?" The reaction was immediate, Danny coughing and backtracking and babbling flimsy excuses that wouldn't hold for a second. It took a few moments for Ghostwriter to control his laughter but when he did he was grinning and shaking his head, "Relax Phantom. It would be...nice of you to visit again."

"Heh, well, I sorta do have a slight ulterior motive," Danny grinned, rubbing his arm. "Your library is quiet, peaceful, and calm. The perfect place to study if I wanna pass school this year, so I figured if I helped you clean I could at least visit every now and then."

"You have trouble with your schoolwork?" Well, that didn't sound right. He had heard of Danny, and learned much from the poem fiasco. The teen was smart and quick to learn new things. He was rather oblivious, yes, but he was quick when it came to things such as new problems.

"W-Well." Ah, guilt. Self-inflicted guilt, as well. Ghostwriter could take a good guess as to why Danny was behind in his studies, and most likely it had to do with his career of ghost hunting. "S-See, I kinda miss class a lot, cause of all the ghost attacks. I know it's not really an excuse but Sam and Tuck, my friends, try to explain things as much as they can and I feel bad and don't want them to keep explaining even when I don't get it.

"And my sister, the bookworm one, she's busy getting ready for college soon and I don't want to ask her because knowing her she'll abandon her own studies and help me with mine and- I'm not stupid!" Oh, now Ghostwriter was seeing the picture. Danny loathed the teachers and students that, most likely, insulted his intelligence. But his hero-complex prevented him from potentially inconveniencing anyone to ask for help. "I know I would get it if it was explained to me and-"

"Well, how about a tutor?" Danny stopped at that, blinking at the words. He tried not to scoff, although he might have slipped anyways judging by Ghostwriter's flat expression.

"Yeah, sure, with my schedule of ghosts, ghosts, and more ghosts? If anyone was crazy enough to tutor a Fenton they'd give up on me as soon as I ran off to stop a ghost attack!"

"Why not a ghostly tutor then?" Ghostwriter pushed, Danny letting out a snort and shaking his head. Ignoring Ghostwriter's 'you are an idiot aren't you?' expression he continued his rant.

"Yeah, right, I'll just ask one of the ghost's I've beaten, shoved in a soup can, and thrown back into the Zone to tutor me so I don't fail school. Yeah. That'll work great." At the the elder's continued dry expression Danny frowned. "What?! What ghost would possibly want to tutor me that's actually good with this- _Oh_."

"Yes. Oh." Well, it certainty took him long enough. Danny looked startled, like a deer caught in headlights, as he blinked and tilted his head.

"But- Uh- You-"

"Was studying to be a teacher before my untimely death. Who better to help you with your work?" Ghostwriter had expected a number of responses, ranging from polite refusal, happy acceptance, and even rude laughter. What he had not been expecting was to be tackled in rather tight hug and Danny screaming thank you multiple times.

The ghost blinked, hesitantly patting the younger's back and trying not to flinch and run away. He really wasn't good with contact, especially friendly contact. "Um... You're, uh, welcome? Seems as good a time as any for new beginnings, after all. New Year and all that."

"I couldn't agree more, GW!"

Back in his Clock Tower, across the Ghost Zone, the Master of All Time chuckled to himself, shaking his head at the picture of Danny still wrapped around the struggling form of the book ghost. If only those two knew what would be awaiting them in the future, both near and far.

Well, that was a story for another time.

* * *

Clockwork you little shit. You know what's coming.

Edited : Due to a lovely critique I went back and took out some of the blushing, because they were right. These two have no reason to blush right now. Thank you AJ!


	2. Tutoring

Made a new drabble to fill in the time skip between this and the next chapter. This covers Danny's first tutoring lesson and it's, in my humble opinion, adorable.

* * *

**Tutoring**

**::**

"Please...just take the other half of my life. End this eternal suffering." Danny had faced fallen kings, inner demons, and fought when time itself was against him. He had faced more than any human or ghost would have expected of him, and surpassed all their expectations. But this- This was something that he could no longer bare. He had finally found the limit of his strength.

"Don't be so dramatic Phantom, it's simply English homework," Ghostwriter scoffed, giving a flat look at Danny's resounding groan. How the teen could throw this big of a fuss over learning Shakespeare he didn't know. "If you would pay attention I wouldn't need to repeat myself, now would I?"

"It's. So. Boring," Danny whined, sitting on the floor and leaning on top of the table that his work was spread across. Ghostwriter had claimed the couch, books scattered around him as he tried to find the best method to teach the young halfa. He had gone through half of his teaching books already and had yet to find the a good way.

"And teaching you is frustrating, yet you don't see me complaining and giving up," the ghost groused, picking up another book. He knew Danny would understand if he could just get the teen to concentrate for longer than a few minutes. "Your attention span is atrocious."

"Yeah, well, so are your manners." At the heavy silence Danny just sighed and glared at the table. He hated schoolwork, English especially. His other subjects he and Ghostwriter had breezed through, a little explaining and he had understood almost immediately. English, though? It was inhumane.

"Hm...maybe we can try explaining things in Latin." Danny looked up at that with the most confused expression Ghostwriter had ever seen on another person. "What? Latin is good for understanding English."

"Lat- That would be helpful but in case you didn't notice I can't even speak English! How the hell do you expect me to learn Latin?!" Danny knew the ghost was absentminded at times, mind always lost in a book, but this? Latin? Really?

"You- You don't know?" Ghostwriter frowned at that rather strange conclusion. The first thing ghosts usually learned was their ability to speak Latin and other dead languages. "Phantom, do you know anything about dead languages?"

"Um, I think they're called that because no one speaks them today? Like, as a culture?" Well. He wasn't wrong, at least. Standing up Ghostwriter stretched, flying off to grab one of his Latin books. Danny seemed to work better with visual clues so far as he had seen. Coming back to a still confused Danny he set down the Latin book, opening to a random page.

"A dead language is one that has fallen out of use in today's world. As such the language crosses over into the Ghost Zone and an instinct allows all ghosts to speak these languages, such as Latin or Sanskrit. We can read, speak, and even write them. Even if you're only half-ghost you still have the ghostly genes that allow you access to this information."

"I'm...reading Latin. And understanding it," Danny spoke quietly, looking at the book in awe. "That. Is. So. Cool." Ghostwriter chuckled, returning to his seat on the couch.

"I had a feeling you might enjoy that." With the extra help of explaining things in Latin it wasn't long before Danny finally understood what it was he was studying, filling out the worksheets and homework problems with little to no struggle. Ghostwriter had went to go get them snacks and drinks when Danny was almost done and came back to the boy reading a book and sitting quietly.

Surprised the boy was quiet and still, instead of buzzing around like he always was, he checked the title of the book, grinning. So he liked science-fiction books, then. "Enjoying a good book?" He watched the boy jump, hesitantly turning around and shooting him a nervous smile.

"In my defense I've been trying to find this book for ages and none of the bookstores have it." Ghostwriter nodded, setting the drinks down in front of him. While he had gone for the coffee Danny had requested whatever flavor of soda he had, which he had felt a little hesitant about. A half-ghost teenager on a sugar-high did not sound like a good thing to him. Still, he had given in.

With that begging expression he could see how he managed to sway enemies to see things his way. Watching the boy take a sip of his drink, and then push it away from any sort of paper, Ghostwriter grinned. Ever since the Poem incident the teen had been extra careful around any books he came across, taking the utmost care of them.

The two sat in silence, Ghostwriter checking over his student's homework, while Danny read his book, giggling when he reached a part that amused him. It took a while for him to notice, most likely because the teen was rather well at hiding things, but he eventually noticed Danny was squinting at the words every few seconds, although he tried not to show it.

Frowning, and gaining suspicions, Ghostwriter brought out the folder of previous homework assignments Danny had brought, to show him where he was at. Reading over the poor answers, and this time looking carefully, he noticed it was as if Danny had read a different question entirely.

"Phantom...do you have bad eyesight?" The teen's flinch was all he needed as answer. "And you haven't been to an eye doctor?"

"Uh, no, not really. I don't see why I would need to since my eyes are fine." Ghostwriter raised an eyebrow at that, holding up a paper with rather large font. "What are you doing?"

"What's the first sentence on here?" Danny stared at the paper quietly for a few moments before finally frowning and looking back down at his book, letting out a mumble. "What?"

"I can't read it." That explained in part why he had such bad grades, he probably hadn't been able to see the board to take notes. Standing up Ghostwriter headed towards his office, ruffling around drawers and shelves before he found the spare set of reading glasses he kept around.

Flying back he noticed Danny was still staring at the book, and looking guilty. The look only made Ghostwriter irritated, the kid shouldn't feel guilty for having bad eyesight. "Here, try these on." Danny, startled at the voice, looked up and frowned at the squared eye-glasses. They didn't look dorky, like most, although he'd still rather not wear them.

"Do I have-"

"Yes. You do." Sighing Danny took the specs, slipping them on and blinking as his eyes widened. Looking down at his book he giggled, the sound almost giddy as he looked at the pages scattered on the desk. Smiling at the teen's sudden happiness Ghostwriter took his seat.

"Better?"

"Oh man. I can see without squinting. And it doesn't give me a headache to read now! This is awesome- Aw man," Danny cut himself off, groaning and hiding his face behind the book in his hands. "Dash is never gonna let me live this down, needing glasses."

"School tormentor?" Bullies. It always came down to them, in the end. Danny merely nodded, adjusting the glasses on his face. They were a little loose but they could always be adjusted.

"Yeah, he's been after me since middle school...well, I guess I'll just grin and bear it, like always. I'm used to this stuff by now." Danny noticed Ghostwriter's expression since he smiled humorlessly. "Being bullied. By ghosts and humans alike, at least the ghosts show some respect though, since I'm able to win in a fight. Fenton though? Complete, absolute loser."

"You talk as if your ghost and human halves are completely different people," Ghostwriter commented, picking up his coffee to take a sip. His student's response almost had him spitting the drink back out.

"That's because they're are. Phantom is the hero, Phantom is the one who knows what to do, Phantom is who everyone looks up to. Fenton is just the nerdy, weak kid who no one notices or cares about, and who apparently needs glasses." Sighing Danny slipped the glasses off, folding them carefully and setting them on top of the book he had been reading.

The sat quietly for a few moments, Ghostwriter thinking over what to say. The teen had very clear self-esteem and confidence issues, although they seemed to disappear when he was Phantom. The boy was unable to see that there was no different between ghost and human.

"Danny."

The teen flinched, head darting up to see Ghostwriter, who was smiling softly. That had been the first time the ghost had called him by his first name. "If you ask me, Fenton and Phantom, while you assure me are different, don't seem to quite matter in his case."

"Huh?" Hardly Danny's fault he couldn't keep up, the guy talked like a living, ish, novel.

"Whether Fenton or Phantom at the end of the day you are simply Danny. A rather intelligent teen who only wants to do what he believes is right. Human or ghost you are the same caring person, so I fail to see why you are unable to understand that."

Danny fell quiet, thinking on the words as he stared at the table. Slowly he grinned, small laugh escaping. That had been the first time a person had managed to see him as just Danny instead of the half-ghost he had become. Jazz, Sam, and Tucker had been close, but they had never managed to make him understand.

"You know GW, I think we're going to be good friends."

* * *

Bit more friend bonding, and covering some plot holes for later stories I'm doing. Plus it's adorable, the thought of Danny wearing reading glasses.


	3. Truce

Day 2 the prompt was truce, I saw it as another chance to have Iambic Prose. Heh.

* * *

**Truce**

**::**

The Ghost Zone was a quiet and peaceful place that held the departed spirits from the Realm of the Living. It was the flipped side of the human's universe and silence radiated throughout. Ghosts valued and respected this silent place and as such noise was rarely heard. Unless you were Danny Phantom, who was currently zooming through the dead air and whooping in joy as he clutched a piece of paper in his hand.

The young half-ghost was nearly a blur as he passed the countless doors and lairs of other ghosts. With his speed it was only moments until he reached his destination, a large library looming over him. Even with it's intimidating look Danny merely smiled at the building, touching down on the steps and vibrating in joy. "Hi Vidya!"

It had been two or so weeks since his tutoring with Ghostwriter had began, and they had only become better friends since then. The ghost was actually rather fun when he wasn't trapping others in poems.

In the back of his head he heard a lyrical humming, which was the library itself. Each ghost's lair had their own form of consciousness, as Ghostwriter had explained to him, using Vidya as an example. He had mentioned that other ghosts were unable to hear the lairs of others. He also mentioned that Danny wasn't exactly normal, so that rule was most likely negated when it came to him.

Danny bounced in his steps as he rushed through the opened doors, scanning the room for the ghostly bookworm that inhabited it. It only took seconds to see the purple ghost struggling with a stack of books, trying to keep them balanced in his arms. Danny chuckled, flying over to take a few off the top so the older wouldn't drop any.

"Ah, thank you," Ghostwriter smiled, setting the books on the shelf and fixing his glasses. "You're here rather quick today, something exciting happen?" Judging by the vibrating and grinning teen the answer was obvious.

"Yesyesyesyesyesyesyesyouwon'tbelieveit!" That was the limit of what Ghostwriter could make out since the rest was too fast to understand. Blinking he tried to understand the teen, only to roll his eyes as he realized the younger has slipped into a dead language.

Ever since the halfa had learned ghosts could speak any dead language of their choosing, and their own ghost-speak, he seemed to slip into them when he was excited or agitated. Latin seemed to be the most often used.

While his ghost-half was fluent in dead languages he himself still had trouble with English, which Ghostwriter found rather ironic.

"Phantom!" Danny fell silent, still grinning. Ghostwriter shook his head, own grin forming. Ever since his peace with the young halfa, which had been mere weeks ago, he found himself smiling a lot more these days. "Is there a reason you're so excited you've begun to speak Latin?"

"Ehe, oops." Nervously giggling the teen ruffled his hair. "Accident. Need to work on that, but look!" Eyes trying to focus on the piece of paper that was thrust in his face Ghostwriter blinked and glanced to Danny. The teen looked liked a little kid who was showing his mom a hand-made card.

"Um..." Danny waved the paper, Ghostwriter reading it as his eyes widened. "Is that-"

"A+!" The boy squealed, rather highly for someone in his vocal range. "English too, which is my worst subject! Thank you thank you thank you!" For only being friends with the halfa for a few weeks Ghostwriter found that he was rather used to the other's hugs.

"You're quite welcome, although you did most of the work. You're an amazing student when you put your mind to it," Ghostwriter smiled, patting the younger's back as Danny finally released him. "And the glasses most likely helped. Have you shown anyone else yet?"

"Nope! You're the first one I wanted to know." Danny chuckled, still giddy over his improved grades, "I wouldn't have made it without you and your tutoring. So, thanks, again." Calming himself down he changed back to human and carefully placed the paper in his bag, moving to shelve books and dust shelves like they had been doing. When they weren't tutoring of course.

Watching the teen, who was still bouncing and giddy, Ghostwriter shook his head and followed after him. It was only ten minutes before the Ghostwriter noticed Danny's trailing silence and contemplative expression. "Something on your mind?"

"Huh? Oh! Just thinking about some stuff," Danny smiled, tapping on a book in his hands. "You know, finding and keeping a job is harder than you would expect." Well. He hadn't been expecting that answer. Danny was still 14, 15 in a few months granted but still, why in Pariah's name was he looking for a job?

"Any reason you need work?" Danny let out a groaning sigh, shelving the book in his hands and picking up a tattered one to go to the repair desk.

"Long story short? Me and my friends-"

"My friends and I, Phantom." Another heaving sigh as Danny shot him a flat glare, Ghostwriter merely smiling. He was the boy's tutor after all.

"_My friends and I _are saving up for this trip of ours later this summer that we're taking. Ghost hunting doesn't exactly pay so now I'm stuck looking for a job, which, yeah, not easy." Ghostwriter watched as Danny changed into his ghost form, floating to sit on top of one of the bookshelves like he did when he was thinking or annoyed. "Not many places are willing to hire a fourteen-year-old kid, and the one place that did fired me."

"For what reason?" Danny scratched his cheek guiltily, half-shrugging.

"Skulker, mainly." Ah. The hunter that wanted nothing more than 'Phantom's pelt'. Even Ghostwriter knew of the loud-spoken ghost. "He sort of interrupted me at work and not only trashed the place but made me end up skipping so I could capture him. Worst part was that they blamed me for the attack, being the son of ghost hunters and all."

"Well that was rather unfair, both of management and of Skulker," Ghostwriter huffed, moving to shelve books on the shelf Danny was now laying on, arms leaning over one side as his ghostly tail curled in the air on the other side.

"Yeah, well, me and the- _The_ _ghosts and I_ aren't really on friendly terms." Ghostwriter snickered at Danny's corrected grammar and huffed laugh. "We kinda hate each other, well, I don't hate them, just annoyed. I mean, a lot of them are pretty cool. It's just the ones that mess with the humans that annoy me."

Ghostwriter decided not to mention Danny had been using 'humans' more and more lately, as if he wasn't one himself. "I mean, honestly, do you know how stupid they are sometimes?! 'Oh no ghost attack, let's run towards it!' No wonder there's so much city damage when I have to worry about protecting crazy people like that!"

"Why not call a truce?" Danny blinked at that, tilting his head in question. Ghostwriter rolled his eyes, elaborating. "Call a truce with the ghosts. Make it something to where as long as the ghosts agree to not interrupt you at work you allow them in the human world on the condition that they cause no harm or trouble."

Danny opened his mouth to protest only to close it. That actually wasn't a bad idea. A ghostly truce that allowed them free reign without a fight as long as they didn't cause trouble. And the ones that did cause trouble would have to face the other ghosts that liked the idea.

"Huh...that's an awesome idea, actually!"

"Yes, I do tend to have those." Danny slipped off the bookshelf, wrapping his arms around the Ghostwriter and hugging him tight.

"Thanks GW, genius like always!" Before the older ghost could respond the halfa was grabbing his backpack and rushing out the door, flying to inform the other ghosts of the truce. Ghostwriter shook his head, annoyed that he was already far used to the other's hug attacks. That boy was too excitable by half.

::

"A truce?" Danny nodded excitedly, adjusting his backpack straps, as Kitty and Johnny shared a look. "So basically we stay out of your hair and you stay out of ours? I like it."

"It does sound like a pretty neat idea," Kitty smiled, her and Johnny on the man's bike as Danny floated in front of them. "So we just don't bother you at work or anything and we get free range?"

"Yep! You can bother me for fights or talks or stuff outside of work but please I really need the job," Danny explained, hands clasped in front of him in a begging motion. "I'd ask you guys not to interfere during school but we all know that's not going to happen."

"Speaking of, I heard you're doing better in school. Something about a new tutor?" Kitty purred, Danny's eye slightly twitching. He really did underestimate these two sometimes, and he knew that tone of voice. Kitty used it when she tried to set him up on dates.

"How do you know about that?"

"Kid, we know everything," Johnny laughed, Kitty smiling and nodding in agreement. "We're the gossipers of the Zone, trust us. If there's something going on we probably know about it."

"Joy." Wondering just how badly Kitty would turn this around on him he frowned. He could see the devil horns on her already.

"You also seem pretty happier, you know. Something good happen, besides the good grades?" Oh she was so going to go there.

"No Kitty. No. I just made a new friend is all. But there is _nothing_ there!" Ghostwriter was a friend, that was all. Sure the ghost was cute, that was obvious, but Danny didn't really have any feelings _like that_ for him.

"Oo, who is it?!" Kitty squealed anyways, "I knew it! You have a crush don't you?!" Danny groaned. There was no stopping Kitty once she wormed her way into someone's love life. "I knew you and Ghostwriter would get along!"

Wait...

"Kitty- No! I don't like him like that! He's just a friend!" Which was a miracle in itself, Danny didn't really make friends, everyone thought he was too creepy. Fenton and Phantom.

Instead of being deterred Kitty merely giggled again. "Keep telling yourself that, maybe one day you'll get yourself to believe it. Come on Johnny, let's go. We got a truce to spread and I have to tell Ember all about this!"

"Seeya later, Kid." Johnny winked, starting his bike up and driving off as Kitty waved. "Good luck with that new boyfriend of yours!"

"He's not my boyfriend! He's just a friend!" At the laughter Danny let out a frustrated huff, turning to go home. There was no stopping those two, no matter how hard he tried.

Sure Ghostwriter was cute, and sweet, and he would make a good boyfriend for anyone- Wait. No. That- "Goddammit Kitty." That woman could make a nun swear he was sure.

Shaking his thoughts off he headed back to the Fenton Portal, if he got back quick enough he might be able to ask about the music store opening he had seen on the way here. Thinking on the truce, and how it would very much help him out, Danny slowly smiled.

"A truce... Great idea as always, GW."

* * *

Cuuuties! Everyone always thinks you're dating when you get a new friend and you're happy because of them.

Edited : Took out some of the blushing, added a more realistic approach, and switched the ending up. Danny is staring to question the little niggling doubts that start when you get a crush.


	4. Distractions

I had to dye my hair blond last night (and there's still pink in it) so I figured if I had to suffer why not make Danny suffer with me. The motto of the Phandom.

* * *

**Distraction **

**::**

Tucker was extremely used to strange things in his life. He had grown up in Amity Park of all places, after all. The leading town for all things ghostly. And his life had only become stranger after his best friend had gained ghost powers. So the strange was nothing new to him. This? This was a bit new.

"Owowowowow _OW IT HURTS!" _

"Well if you would sit still and stop moving it wouldn't!" Tucker snapped at the squirming teen, jerking Danny's head back into place and huffing. Honestly, just how did his best friend manage to get into this much trouble all the time? "You've faced Dan, Pariah, and even Vlad, why are you so pissy over a box of hair-dye?"

"BECAUSE IT FEELS LIKE IT'S BURNING!" Wincing at the shriek, that sounded an octave higher than the ghostly wail, Tucker sighed. At the feeling of more dye being poured on Danny fidgeted in his seat, biting his lip hard enough to draw blood.

"Oh come on, don't bite your lip! Swallowing your blood just makes you sick!" Carefully avoiding touching anything with his dye-soaked gloves Tucker picked up an empty cup, forcing Danny to spit the blood out. "Jeez man, it's just forty-five minutes. You'll be fine."

"It. _Burns_." Tucker just shook his head, pouring the last of the mixtures onto the smaller's hair. "So. Much."

"Well that's what happens when you get into a fight at the hair-dye factory and dye your hair pink." Pink wasn't that good of a look for Danny, hence why he and Tucker were using one of Sam's many hair dye kits to dye his hair back to it's coal-black color. Tucker had been tempted to dye the hair white but figured Danny would kill him if he did.

"Buuurns," Danny hissed, sitting on his hands to prevent himself from scratching and rubbing the dye out. If he had black hair _with_ pink it would look very strange. And the teasing would be endless. He just had to stay still long enough for the pain to end and for his head to stop _burning_.

"According to Sam the burning feeling goes away after about fifteen minutes," Tucker explained, dull snap as he pulled his gloves off and tossed them towards a chemical waste bin. "After that it still feels kinda itchy but nothing like before. So. You need a distraction."

"Oh please no." Danny whined, the noise sounding remarkably close to a whimper. Tucker's distractions often caused him pain. Like the distraction of going down to the basement on the day the Fenton Portal failed. That one was still causing him pain. "What in Pariah's name did I do to you to earn this?!"

"Aaand distraction found," the taller smirked, grin looking slightly evil. "'Pariah's name?' Sounds like you've been spending a lot of time around another person, care to say who? If I had to guess it was a ghost."

"Yeah, well, of course I am. Ever since that truce me- the ghosts and I have a sort of peace going on. They still cause trouble and I still fight them but it's nothing like it was before, so of course I've been spending a lot of time with them." In between school, his job at the music store, and hanging out with Tucker and Sam.

"Ghosts and I?" Tucker prodded, Danny involuntarily letting out a chuckle as he rolled his eyes. Some lessons had seemed to stick, he supposed.

"Ghostwriter is a very convincing tutor."

"Riiight," Tucker drew out. Judging by his best bro's expression he knew everything he needed to. Standing up he walked over and clapped his hands on the other's shoulders, startling him into looking up. "Danny. You're my best friend and you know I care for you."

"Is this- Is this going somewhere?" Danny asked. He didn't have a good feeling about this. At all.

"Seriously, we've been like brothers since we were old enough to talk, and nothing will change that. Not even ghost powers or who you like. I'm always here for you and I'll always listen." Danny just blinked again, tilting his head. Tucker was starting to worry him. "Even through your absolute cluelessness I'll always support you. And whoever you might like. Whether they be girl, boy, ghost, or-"

"Wha-?! Okay! I get it! Stop talking! Shut up!" Danny threw his hands over Tucker's mouth, blushing brightly and looking generally like an out of place kid. "No. Just- Just no, Tuck. No. We are not talking about-"

"See! Just from your reaction alone I know you have the hots for someone! And it's pretty obvious too," Tucker snickered, keeping Danny's hands away from him. He wasn't sure if the teen was trying to cover his mouth again or simply strangle him. Either way he'd rather avoid whatever he was trying.

"It. Is. Not. Obvious. You know why? Because I don't have the hots for anyone!" Danny hated that he blushed so easily, simply because it made Tucker think he was right. Which he wasn't. "At all! Why do people keep saying that?! I AM NOT IN LOVE WITH GHOSTWRITER!"

"Heh. Never said you were buddy," Tucker smiled sweetly, watching as Danny's eyes flashed green. A few years ago that would have scared him or made him uneasy, but now with how used he was to ghosts he merely grinned again. "I just said you had the hots for someone. You came up with that tutor of yours all on your own."

"I hate you Tuck. I hate you so much," Danny hissed, holding his friend by the shoulders and resisting the urge to strangle him. He had to remind himself that Tucker as a ghost would just be even worse. Besides, it was hardly his fault he jumped to conclusions. Everyone in the Zone seemed to think he and Ghostwriter were together. "Why man. Why would you-"

"Your head stopped burning, right?" Danny...had not expected that. Pushing his anger back he realized that yes, his head had indeed stopped burning. Still a light urge to scratch but nothing he couldn't ignore. Tucker had effectively distracted him from the pain. "I was serious, by the way."

At the tone of voice Danny's eyes darted back to his friend, who was smirking and shaking his head. "How you're so good when it comes to other's love lives I'll never know...but I'm serious when I said it doesn't matter. Me and Sam aren't gonna abandon you just because you like guys."

At that the halfa blushed brightly, eyes holding the tiniest amount of panic. "I do not-"

"Dude. I know you. I grew up with you. We spend almost every second together. It was easy to see when you started looking at girls _and_ guys." At the other's blush Tucker grinned, patting his cheeks. "And hey, maybe you like guys, girls, or both, either way we don't care. You're still you, no matter who you like."

"Tuck...thanks..." In all honestly Danny wasn't exactly sure who he liked. He had appreciation for both girls and boys but he never felt a particularly _strong_ attraction to either of them. Sure he had crushes on girls, and hints of crushes towards guys, but nothing substantial.

He thought that he and Sam might have something but when they had finally sat down and discussed it it had ended up nothing other than friendship.

"Sooo...the Ghostwriter, huh? I thought you hated poetry." Slowly smiling Danny finally laughed, shaking his head. Later. Later he would think about why everyone seemed to think he _liked_ the Ghostwriter. For now though he would just go through things moment by moment, like he always did.

"What can I say, he kinda trapped me in the words."

* * *

Sooo, I didn't really want to call Danny gay here, because that's what everyone does. I figure Danny, as he gets a little older, would be the type to fall in love with personality over gender. He doesn't really care about sex and shit, just being with the people he loves.

Edited : Made it better. That's it. Just better.


	5. Family Vacation

**Edited : I edited the previous chapters and added a new one between chapters one and two. So please go back and re-read the previous, they aren't too long so you should be able to skim and understand. There's also notes at the bottom of what I _did_ change. Enjoy!**

GW is weak against curiosity.

* * *

**Family Vacation**

**::**

"For the last time Phantom, _no_." Ghostwriter would do many things for his young student, in fact the number of things he was willing to do was pathetically long. But he drew the line here. He wouldn't give in to the teen. Not this time.

Danny Fenton, also known as the powerful half-ghost Danny Phantom, made the most pathetic whining sound he could manage. "Ghostwriter _please_ I am begging here. You know me, it almost killed me to apologize after the Poem Fiasco. And now I am _begging_. Please you have to help me!"

"I will _not_ go with you on your family vacation!"

"Oh come on!" Danny huffed, moving to sit on top of the bookshelf he always did when he was annoyed at something. Ghostwriter had noted it was the science-fiction shelf, which explained so much about the teen. "It's just a three-day camping trip! It'll be over before you know it!"

Ghostwriter glared up at the teen, who was flicking his tail in an agitated motion. He supposed that meant Danny was keyed up about this more than he would have first assumed. "Phantom. No." The teen scowled. "Why not ask one of your friends to go?"

"Because Sam was dragged off to England for her family vacation and Tucker went to the desert. And even if he was here he still wouldn't go because of his whole fear of camping and forests after the last time we went camping. It didn't end well." Shuddering Danny frowned, "Ugh. Walker in a forest. Bad memories."

"Well then why can't you go by yourself and enjoy the company of your family?" Danny stared at him silently with a shocked expression, Ghostwriter raising an eyebrow.

"You're kidding, right? Mom and Dad would just lecture me on ghosts, which, yeah, I know more than them at this point. And then Jazz would just psychoanalyze me. Again! Please, don't make me suffer alone."

"Oh, so then you want me to suffer with you?" Danny let out another whining noise, floating down to hang around Ghostwriter's neck. Already used to the clingy teen and his general craving of contact Ghostwriter continued his business of looking for the reference books he needed for the new novel he was starting. "No means no, do we need to actually have a lesson about that?"

"Please! I just want one friend while I'm there and suffering!" Ghostwriter sighed, phasing out of Danny's grip and shaking his head.

"Even if I wanted to go, which I _do not_, your parents are ghost hunters, are they not? Not even they would be able to ignore a ghost accompanying their son on their family holiday." Danny half-shrugged, making a hand-waggling motion.

"Well, they live with a ghost and they haven't really found that out yet so I think you're safe!" Another flat look. Sighing Danny touched down on the ground, looking condescending, "Really GW? Do you really think I haven't thought that out? I have the perfect solution!"

At that Ghostwriter went silent. He wouldn't ask. Danny would find a way to turn it around on him. He was the teen's tutor, and he knew just how clever he could be when he wanted to. Danny merely grinned as the silence grew, he knew the ghost would break down and ask. He couldn't stand to not know something.

"...How _exactly_ did you plan to hide my ghostly state?" Ghostwriter finally asked, feeling a growing sense of dread at Danny's sharp grin.

"Well, to find that out you're gonna have to agree to go with me. Just three days and I promise Mom and Dad will have absolutely no clue that you're a ghost." Ghostwriter held the teen's gaze for ten seconds before sighing deeply, running a hand through his hair and displacing his glasses. He was going to regret this.

Curiosity would be his second death.

::

"So I merely put this on and it makes me appear human?" Ghostwriter stared at the small bracelet in his hand curiously. He had to admit that agreeing to go on the trip might be worth it just to have seen this. The bracelet was obviously a ghostly artifact, although how Danny had come across it he wouldn't be able to even begin to guess.

"Yup! Borrowed it off of Clockwork, who was grinning like crazy so he's up to something. Anyways, just slip it on and it makes you appear human, warm skin, heartbeat, everything. Underneath you're still a ghost, and feel like it, so you can use your powers. But to other humans, and half-humans apparently, you appear like them. Simple as that."

"Well, might as well try I suppose, since I already agreed." Danny grinned victoriously as the ghost slipped the bracelet on, the glinting silver tightening around his wrist as between one blink and the next he changed. Standing in the Ghostwriter's place was now what appeared to be nothing more than a nineteen-year-old human, and one who looked very confused. "It worked, I assume?"

Danny remained silent, staring at the former ghost in shock. That was- That was unfair. No wonder Clockwork had been laughing, he had seen Danny's reaction. Ghostwriter looked younger than he did as a ghost, and his goatee seemed more closely shaven, but overall Danny couldn't stop staring.

"Phantom?" He was hot. The Ghostwriter, as a human, was hot as hell. Lightly tanned skin, dark green eyes, tousled black hair that looked as if it had never seen a comb, and square glasses that made him look aged and mature.

"Oh that's just not fair..." Ghostwriter was Danny's good friend, and he cared about him as a friend would. As such he was not supposed to start seeing the ghost as the hottest person he had ever laid eyes on in his life, undead life included.

"Pardon?"

"Nothing!" Danny shouted, standing straight and blushing. Oh he hoped Ghostwriter hadn't noticed his blush. "Nothing at all! Er, yeah, the illusion works fine. Just fine. You look younger though, like eighteen or nineteen." Ghostwriter nodded, glancing at his skin curiously and holding it up to the light to inspect the shadows.

"A rather remarkable illusion, I assume it hides my ghost signature as well." Danny just nodded, still trying to tell himself that no, he did not having feelings _like that_ for his friend. He was just appreciating the fact that the bookworm, with a runner's build, was hot enough to get anyone he wanted- Okay. Those thoughts weren't helping either. "Speaking of, where are your parents?"

"Oh, uh, they should be packing up the RV. Come on, I'll introduce you." Shaking the thoughts off, or at least as best he could, he led Ghostwriter from the lab up to the front door, peeking out to see that the two Fenton adults were arguing over how to pack the Fenton Family Assault Vehicle. As usual.

"Are they taking ghost weapons on a _camping _trip?" Ghostwriter asked quietly, giving Danny a concerned look. The teen just laughed, smiling.

"You'd be surprised by how many ghosts end up attacking when we try to go camping. Granted they're usually controlled by some crazy ghost out to get me, but still. Them taking weapons? I don't mind. At all." Walking down the steps, and dragging the older with him, Danny stopped in front of his parents. "Mom? Dad? This is my tutor that I was telling you about. The one coming with us on the trip."

"Oh! How nice to finally meet you!" Maddie smiled, taking the temporary human's hand and shaking enthusiastically. Jack shook his hand next, which left Ghostwriter scrambling to catch his glasses as they flew off his face from the force of the handshake. Danny was the one to catch the flying specs, grinning as he handed them back to the slightly scared ghost. "Danny talks about you all the time! And you've helped his grades so much! Not to mention you found out he needed glasses before we even did!"

"Mom! They're just reading glasses, my eyesight isn't that bad!" Danny huffed, crossing his arms. Honestly. His parents didn't seem to notice his outburst since they kept on talking, although Ghostwriter shot him a smile.

"So kid, what's your name and what grade are you in?" Jack asked kindly, the ghost's mind stalling for a half-second before he smiled politely. Lying he was rather good at, thankfully.

"Ah, I'm a freshman at the local college and agreed to help young Danny here when I ran into him at the library one day." Danny snickered quietly at that, he wasn't exactly lying. Although it was his ghost library instead of the one in town. "The name is Isaac Hunter, and it's a pleasure to meet you two."

"The pleasure is all ours, Isaac!" While Maddie smiled at first she frowned as she saw Danny leaning against the side of the RV to try and keep himself from falling over, looking as if he had received the shock of his life. "Danny? Are you okay?"

"Oh my god, I'm dreaming. I have to be dreaming," Danny mumbled under his breath, Ghostwriter starting to grow worried. Danny was a rather strange teenager he would admit but even for him this was abnormal. Before Maddie or Jack could question it any further Jazz came out of the house, carrying two bags and ranting about camping trips.

"I still don't see why we can't stay at home this year!" While Jazz talked to her parents, who were trying to pacify her, Ghostwriter hesitantly patted Danny's back, speaking quietly.

"Phantom? You okay?" He yelped as Danny suddenly grabbed him by the shoulders, looking frantic, hopeful, and doubtful all at once.

"Tell me you've heard of a book called _The Soundless Clock_." Ghostwriter was silent. Completely silent. How on-

"You know of my book?!" Danny half-smiled, looking like his brain had just effectively broken in half. "Wait- Is that why you're acting so strange?"

"You're telling me you wrote one of my favorite books of- Your name is Isaac?" Danny blinked, cutting himself off and looking curious. Honestly, Ghostwriter huffed, how that boy kept an attention span was anyone's guess.

"Not quite. It's one of my various pen names from when I was- Hold on. One of your favorite books?" Danny half-giggled, scratching the back of his head and looking away. "You enjoyed it that much?"

"You have no idea. Hey Jazz!" Danny called, slightly smiling. He still couldn't believe that one of his best friends wrote one of his favorite books. Waiting until his sister was beside them, looking at the human Ghostwriter curiously, Danny smirked. "_The Soundless Clock_-"

"No." Jazz said immediately, taking a step back. Ghostwriter's brow furrowed, what was this supposed to prove? "Danny, no, we are not talking about that book. Not again. I know you love the book, and I'm glad you enjoy discussing it, really, I do. But please, never talk with me about that book again. You have discussed every possibility of every page of every plot twist, Danny, I know the book better than the leader of the fan club for it. And you know it even better. You could recite that book in your sleep. Please. No."

Before Danny could respond Jazz skittered away, she would not be roped into another discussion of that book. There had been too many to date as was. Danny chuckled, looking back at Ghostwriter and smiling, "_That_ is how much I love your book." The ghost was blushing, nervously chuckling as he scratched one of his cheeks. He was always happy to hear people enjoyed his books but he hadn't expected Danny to enjoy them.

"Debates?" Danny laughed, slinging an arm around the other's shoulders. They had a seven-hour car ride to the camp grounds. He might as well as have some fun with the bookworm.

::

Danny yawned, rubbing his eyes, making sure to not knock his reading glasses off his face. They were the same ones that Ghostwriter had given him and he packed them everywhere he went.

It was night and day one of the Fenton Reunion Vacation had finally ended. Everyone had been interested to meet his friend, especially his female, and a few male, cousins who he kept having to hide Ghostwriter from. Said ghost was now passed out beside him, scarf, coat, and glasses folded up beside the sleeping bag neatly. There had been a surplus of tents this year so Danny and Ghostwriter had managed to get one to themselves.

"Heh, you know, I never expected that you would turn out to be one of my best friends," Danny mumbled softly, pausing in his reading to stare at his sleeping friend. It was spring, only a month or two away from summer, and the two had only grown closer since his apology. "One day you were busy cleaning the Library, you know, and I found the Christmas poem. I blame your influence that I actually sat down and read it."

Danny watched as Ghostwriter stirred in his sleep, muttering under his breath before yawning widely and blinking slowly, eyes still dull. Grabbing Danny's wrist, the teen snorting in amusement at the action, Ghostwriter squinted at the wristwatch. It took a few seconds for him to make out the time, since his glasses were put away, but eventually he saw it and hissed something unintelligible under his breath.

"It's half past three in the morning Danny, what are you doing up?" Danny waved his book, the ghost humming at the, thankfully large-print, title and flopping back onto his sleeping bag with a dull thump, hissing and grumbling about rocks and sticks. Danny shook his head, staring at his book again.

Ever since the trip had started instead of the prim and proper bookworm he had come to known Danny was instead starting to see a young adult who enjoyed having fun as much as he did. The halfa was silent with his thoughts until Ghostwriter spoke up again. "'Andrea would later swear that she had seen nothing, but she knew. She knew exactly what she had seen in the shadows, and the sight terrified her more than she would have ever imagined.'"

"Wha- No. Freaking. Way." Ghostwriter laughed as Danny stared from the book he was reading down to the ghost, who had just quoted a line from three pages ago. "You're Zachary Reyes too?!"

"I possess many pen names," he smirked, rolling over and leaning his head on his arms, looking up at the other. "Exactly how many of my books have you read?" Danny thought about it, half-shrugging his shoulder. "If it helps my other two pen names were T. R. Travis and M. J. Anderson."

"A-Ah." Danny blushed brightly, Ghostwriter grinning at the action. "T-Then I might have read all of them." Eyes widening the ghost laughed incredulously. "There were really good books okay!"

"You've read _all_ of them?" Danny nodded, tapping the spot in his book in an absent rhythm due to his nervousness. He hadn't expected all his favorite authors to end up being his best friend. "I suppose my suspicions of you adoring science-fiction books were correct."

"Tucker, Sam, and Jazz all refuse to discuss your books with me anymore," Danny huffed. "Said if I wanted to be obsessed with authors then don't bother them about it. Apparently I ranted about the stories a lot."

"The greatest compliment an author can receive is to here their books are debated and discussed." Danny grinned, flopping down and adjusting his pillow and sleeping bag to where he was facing the other. Ghostwriter raised an eyebrow as Danny made himself comfortable, slipping his glasses off to carefully lay on top of the book he had been reading.

"Well that's good to hear because I have more than fifty different ways to resolve the plot holes that involved Andrea and Peter-"

"I had no plot holes!" Ghostwriter interrupted, eyes sharp. Danny just smiled, patting the other's hair, which, wow, soft. He probably spent a bit too long petting the sleep-ruffled hair but thankfully the ghost was far too tired to notice the action.

"Oh GW...yes, you did. Granted they were small and easily overlooked, but they were there." Ghostwriter glared, huffing. Oh the teen wanted to play this game? Very well.

"Name one-"

"The airship gala." He went silent at that. Damn. He couldn't really fight on that one, although he had hoped no one would notice that slip apparently someone had. "It took me til my seventh read through to catch it though, and that was because I was in school and something said made me see it. So don't feel too bad."

Ghostwriter was quiet for a few minutes before he finally smiled, maybe coming on this trip hadn't been such a bad idea after all. "Plot hole resolutions, you say?"

The next hour passed in a whirl of debates, jokes, and just plain laughter. It took Danny a while before he noticed he was ranting to an asleep Ghostwriter, who had passed out sometime after their discussion on Andrea's past and how it had shaped her. Danny settled down, watching the sleeping ghost for a few more minutes.

"That poem...you were right. The rewrite was better."

* * *

It got sappy at the end there. Anyways, we all know Danny loves science and space, and with Jazz as a sister he probably loves books when he gets the time to read them. So of course science-fiction is logical. And GW would have a ton of pennames back when he was alive.

Pssst, if you ever see a M. J. Anderson book in real life. Heh. *waves* Work in progress.


	6. Fight

Because every story about a couple needs a fight scene, even if I suck at those. So here's my best attempts!

* * *

**Fight **

**::**

The Ghostwriter's lair and personal library was a quiet and serene place. Unless there was company over the only sound that could be heard was the gentle turning of pages and clacking of keyboards. Today however this was not the case. It was still silent, morbidly so, but the tension in the library was thick, and heavy. This was all due to the two current occupants of the library.

At yet another one of his tutoring sessions Danny Fenton was staring at his work and fiercely biting his cheek to keep anything rude from coming out. It wasn't Ghostwriter's fault, really, it wasn't. It was just for the past week Danny had been fighting ghost after ghost, who seemed to think attacking a few weeks before finals was a good idea. He was exhausted, irritated, and the last thing he wanted to do was study dead people and confusing words.

Ghostwriter was as frustrated as his student. He knew Danny was a good student but right now his tolerance of teaching had reached maximum. The past week he had dealt with more ghosts than he had in his whole afterlife, and none of the dealings had been pleasant. The worst was his meeting with the Observants, which, no, that had not gone over very well. Especially after he called them floating eyeballs who couldn't even see past their own short-comings let alone into another person's future.

The end result was Danny and Ghostwriter both trying to be pleasant to each other and failing spectacularly. What little speaking that had been done had been swift, to the point, and rude.

"This is _not_ that hard, Phantom." They had been stuck on the same math problem for ten minutes, Danny's pencil scratching holes into the paper at his point. It wasn't that he couldn't understand it but more that he was so exhausted his mind was having a hard time concentrating on anything more complex than avoiding punches and shooting ecto-blasts.

"Yeah, well, not all of us are genius ghosts who have nothing better to do all day than read," Danny spat out, eyes flickering between green and blue. He needed to calm down, before his powers started going on the blink as well. He had thought he had managed to control the problem of his anger being connected to his powers but he supposed not.

"My social habits are of no concern to you," Ghostwriter spoke levelly, although inside he was a boiling rage. He had put up with enough this week, he didn't need Danny's snark and sarcasm on top of it. Not when he felt sorely tempted to go destroy something and do a couple thousand dollars of damage. Maybe to that vapid shoe store that had bought out the Barnes and Nobles in town.

"Oh of course, no concern on all. Not like we're friends or anything." It was like a car crash, Danny just couldn't keep his mouth shut. Maybe if he wasn't so annoyed himself he would have seen Ghostwriter's own frustration but as it was all he wanted was for this day to end.

"You are my student and I your tutor, there is nothing else. Now finish your work." Any other time Ghostwriter would have felt extremely guilty over the hurt look Danny shot him, this time however the guilt was easy to push away. "Or are you still stuck on problem _one_?"

Danny jerked his reading glasses off, viciously rubbing his hands over his face and trying to calm down. He had to remember that attacking Ghostwriter wouldn't be nice. The ghost was his friend, even if he was being a complete dick today. "Heh, just stuck because I've been trying to figure out what's the point of being _so smart_ when you don't have any friends or family to talk to. Being all on your own doesn't sound very fun."

"To each their own," Ghostwriter bit out, hand gripping the pen he was holding just a little too tight. At this rate he was going to kill the boy himself, or at least finish the job. "My living habits are of no con-"

"Yeah, I know! No concern of mine, well guess what GW, they are!" Danny snapped, hands coming down on the table with a sharp slap to brace himself. "You're my friend, even though you don't think the same, but I still care about you for some insane reason! So tell me, what's the point of always locking yourself in here and never stepping out?! You're already dead so it's not like you have much more to lose!"

The silence was thick, and just as Danny was starting to calm down enough to regret his words Ghostwriter spoke, lips pulled into a cruel smirk, "Well at least I'm not an attention-deficit brat who can't keep still for longer than two _seconds_!" Danny flinched at that, the insult making him more uncomfortable than he would have liked. He had been trying to figure out his hyper behavior and feeling self-conscious over the comments he got because of it, and Ghostwriter really wasn't helping.

"At least I'm not some _pretentious_ bookworm who can't even make friends without the fear of someone stabbing him in the back!" Pushing away everything else Danny chose anger. A lesser choice maybe but it kept him from showing his pain, and if it was one thing he had learned it was to hide his pain.

"Well at least I _belong_ somewhere!"

Too far. As soon as the words were said both realized that the fight had gone too far. Danny didn't even notice Ghostwriter's horrified expression with himself, he was too busy running the words over in his head. They were right though, weren't they? He didn't belong. Half-ghost, half-human. Humans thought him a freak and ghosts thought him a nuisance. He was...nobody.

"Danny-" Standing up Danny let his ghostly rings wash over him, eyes flickering between their radioactive green and natural blue.

"Save it. Not like anything you said was a lie. And you know what? You were right about one other thing, too." Looking up at the ghost's confused and stricken expression Danny let out a hollow laugh, "We really aren't friends."

Between one blink and the next Danny was off like a shot, papers and books left fluttering in the sudden breeze as he flew away from the library, flying as far and fast as he could. Squinting against the wind sheer that was tearing his eyes up he was embarrassed to realize the tears weren't just from the wind.

Shaking his head he forced his eyes closed and shuddered, the words that had been said in the library running through his head. Hissing he increased his speed, trying to out-fly the doubts. Not now. Please not now. Don't break down. Keep it together. Don't show weakness. Have to keep going.

Ghostwriter, still in the spot where Danny had left him, slowly shook until he spun around, punching the wall behind him hard enough to leave a small dent. Shoulders shaking he glared at the floor, eyes blazing with anger. "Idiot. Idiot, idiot, idiot, idiot." Sighing he slowly let himself slide to the floor, forehead braced against the wall. "Andrew you absolute fool."

Silence reigned in the library.

::

Deep inside the tower of the Clock Citadel Clockwork sighed. He had watched over countless timelines and seen so many ghosts and humans. And yet these two were the most stubborn and pig-headed he had ever seen. Pulling up an image on his screen he frowned as he saw Ghostwriter was now hiding in his room, viciously kicking books off of his bed into the floor, not even bothering to correct the bent spines and crinkled papers as they hit the wooden floors.

"That will not end well." A ghost whose obsession was books treating them as such? Clockwork would have to interfere with the book ghost himself, it seemed. Clearing his screen and bringing up another image Clockwork groaned and rubbed the bridge of his nose. Of course.

Danny had taken refuge in the Far Frozen, eyes flickering between the icy blue of his ice powers and a fiery, angry red. The ghost was destroying rocks and hunks of ice spectacularly, not pausing between one blast and the next as he fired. The air around him seemed to be getting colder, judging by the increase in the snow. His ice powers would get the better of him if he didn't calm down, and soon.

"Why must you two always cause such trouble?" Clockwork questioned to himself. Or at least, they would cause trouble. More so than they did now. Rooting around for paper and pen the time ghost scribbled a quick note, opening a portal to send it to Frostbite.

If Danny had chosen to hide in the Far Frozen then Frostbite would be the best to speak with him, especially since he would be able to handle any ice storms Danny might start. Opening another portal he dived in, blinking as he came to the sight of a curled up Ghostwriter, who was viciously cursing himself out in Latin, Sanskrit, ghost-speak, and French.

"Self-pity really does not suit you, Andrew." Flinching at the name, his real name, Ghostwriter's head slowly lifted up, eyes dark. Seeing exactly who was floating in front of him he groaned, burying his head back into his arms.

"Oh please, not you. Can't you go find someone else to bother," Ghostwriter, Andrew, barked out. He was annoyed as was without the _Master of All Time_ making things worse for him. Which he would. He always did. "The last thing I need is more trouble."

"My dear Andrew, since when do I ever cause trouble?" Clockwork questioned innocently, small smirk giving away his amusement. Waving his staff the overturned books effortlessly righted themselves, the spines and pages none the worse for wear. Andrew simply kicked another book off of his bed in defiance, eyes narrowing. "Really? If you keep damaging your books like that you will only feel worse later."

"Clockwork I could not _possibly_ feel worse than I do now," Andrew huffed out, dry laughter in his voice as he scooted to the corner of the room his bed was pressed against. Leaning his back against the wall he pulled his knees up tight, eyes still on the time ghost. "Trust me on that."

"Well, that is quite strange," Clockwork hummed in thought, taking a seat by the small desk that was covered with open and closed journals. Most had only words but a few had illustrations of various things. "As far as I recall you feel quite accomplished when you manage to tear someone down with words."

"Yeah, well, not this time."

::

"Ah! Great One! What a privilege to see you again, although I wish it was in better circumstances." Frostbite, braving the snowy ice storm that had started up not even half an hour ago, stood a few feet away from Danny. As soon as Clockwork's note had arrived he had set off, heeding the Time Master's words. "Is there something wrong?"

"Nothing at all," Danny growled out, ice blast shattering a rock into nothing but dust. The rock dust was quickly swept up into the swirling storm, Danny's aura brightening and blazing around him. Frostbite frowned at the sight. The young ghost's ice powers were out of control it seemed, responding to his erratic emotions. "Not. One. Damn. Thing."

"Forgive me for saying so but I do not believe that is the case." Danny just let out another growl, body shaking as he released more ice energy, this time at an ice block. He was aware enough to know that if he didn't keep using his ice powers they would build up inside him, the way his anger was affecting his powers. And the last time he had let his ice power build up he had almost become an ice block himself. "Did you have a fight, perhaps?"

The note Clockwork had delivered to him had been vague at best. Something about Danny being angry due to social problems with the Ghostwriter. Not the clearest of pictures for Frostbite to work with. Watching the boy flinch, and almost scream, Frostbite nodded. It was indeed trouble.

"I do not see why you are so upset if this is the case, you fight with ghosts all the time, do you not?" Danny stayed quiet, energy building up around him. He did fight with ghosts all the time but this was different. This was so much different. "Great One?"

"It's different." The teen's voice was almost lost in the wind with how quiet he had spoken but Frostbite managed to understand.

"How so? A ghost fight is a ghost fight, is it not?" Frostbite watched Danny shiver, hands gripping his arms tight as he finally spun around to glare at the yeti ghost.

"Well this time it wasn't a ghost fight! _It was a fight with my best friend_!"

::

"And what is so different about it this time?" Clockwork prodded. He was starting to understand but Andrew was being remarkably slow for such a smart ghost. Either that or Clockwork had underestimated just how stubborn he could be. "A fight is a fight, yes?"

"Not today, Clockwork. I am not discussing my feelings with you," Andrew growled, voice rough with agitation. "Besides, if you really are the Master of Time then you already know why I feel as I do."

"Yes but you need to say it, otherwise you'll never admit to yourself what you know to be truth." Andrew glared, a small twitch forming above his eye. This ghost would drive him insane, he just knew it.

"All-seeing bastard."

"Hardly a wrong observation but rude all the same," Clockwork smirked, tail flicking a motion that was so similar to Danny the book ghost almost whined at the sight. The Time Master was just torturing him at this point. Clockwork noticed the reaction and grinned, slight laugh to his voice. "If you're this annoyed with the boy then why not trap him in yet another poem? It would ease your frustrations, would it not?"

Finally reaching his limit Andrew almost screamed as he snapped, "Because I actually like the kid, okay?! Is that what you want to hear?! I don't want to put him in a poem because he would be _miserable_. I don't like him angry at me because it makes me feel worse than I ever did alive. He's my only friend, one that I can trust and all I did was throw it back into his face! I feel like an absolute _dick_ that I would ever bring up such a sore spot in a stupid _fight_! Is that what you want to hear?!"

Panting Andrew curled in on himself, eyes lifeless now that he had expanded all his rage in his screaming. Clockwork was just sitting calmly, self-satisfied smirk on his face. Andrew was a difficult person when it came to talk of feelings, it would have taken nothing less than what he did to have the ghost admit those things.

"Well, if you like him as much as you claim to...then shouldn't you be trying to make things right?"

::

"Are your human companions not your best friends?" Frostbite questioned, deciding it safe to step closer as the energy around Danny slowly faded into his normal ghostly aura. Danny stayed standing for a few more seconds before he sank into the snow, body shaking as he stared at the ground.

"It's different. With him, with Ghostwriter, it's different." Danny spoke quietly, voice barely above that of a whisper. His mind fluttered through all the encounters he had with the ghost, from the poem fiasco to the Fenton reunion that had been less than two weeks ago. He had thought after his apology the ghost would be no one more than an acquaintance, a ghost who didn't want to attack him on sight.

But then the tutoring had started and things had changed. He has seen the fun, clumsy side of the bookworm. The one who was just as likely to tear you down with sarcasm as he was to defend you. He was confusing and seemed to have two personalities. The one he used to keep others away and the one he showed around Danny.

"It's different and I don't how and it's starting to scare me." Ghostwriter was his friend, nothing more and nothing less. But if that was the truth then why was he always thinking about the ghost? Why was he always so eager to visit the library every day when it was nothing but cleaning and tutoring? Why did he remember the tiniest things about the ghost, like his favorite book, author, coffee order, and snack?

He had known Sam and Tucker for years but it had seemed, lately, he had started to know even more about Ghostwriter than he did them. Not the past or the history, but the little habits and quirks that made a person who they were. When he did see the ghost he never seemed to be able to look away, and when he was gone Ghostwriter was all he could think about.

He wasn't used to this. This all-consuming need to know everything about the other, and save it away to forever remember. He didn't know what he was feeling, it was strange and foreign and _confusing_. And the worst part was that he didn't _want_ his feelings for the Ghostwriter to go away. He wanted to keep learning and talking and just _being_ with ghost.

"It's scary, it's terrifying, and I _don't know_," Danny mumbled, hands coming up to grip his head as his shivering continued. He wished he could bury these feelings. Just bury them and keep things the way they had been going. Frostbite stepped closer, slowly setting a hand on the small teen's shoulders.

"What don't you know, small one?" Frostbite could see something was changing in his young friend, something was changing him and he didn't know if it was for the better or not. Danny slowly looked up and Frostbite didn't see the powerful and fearless Danny Phantom. He instead saw a scared and lost child who didn't know what to do.

"I don't know how I feel about him anymore..."

::

Blinking at the words Andrew slowly scowled, sliding down the wall to lay on his bed and glare at the smirking ghost in front of him. "You are a meddling and troublesome ghost, Clockwork. The only one worse than you is Danny."

"Well, Phantom is my son after all, it's to be expected he takes a few traits after me." Andrew nodded a the information before freezing, eyes wide.

"Wait- What?! Your son?!" Ghostwriter smiled, pulling something out of his pocket and throwing it to Andrew, who clumsily caught it and raised an eyebrow. Studying the small object he realized it was the bracelet that he had used to appear human when he had visited Danny's family.

"Just in case," the time ghost winked, smirk on his face. Andrew's eyes narrowed, he knew that smirk. The time ghost was up to something, and it most likely involved a certain bookworm's breakdown. "Besides, better it finds use with you then lay around the Tower all day, inactive."

"Uh, thank you?" Why in Pariah's name would he need the ability to appear human? Clockwork seemed to see the question on his face since he merely chuckled, shaking his head.

"You will figure things out, both of you. In time."

::

Curled in on himself and still shivering Danny nervously stood in front of the large wooden doors of the library. Hearing a faint lyrical humming in his head he tentatively smiled, "H-Hi V-Vidya." At the concerned tone in the notes now he grimaced. "J-Just a b-bit cold." If he was actually stumbling in his words though he might have been colder than he thought. "C-C-Can I c-c-come in?"

There was barely a pause before the doors opened, beckoning Danny into the warm library. Slowly floating in Danny changed his legs into his ghostly tail, curling around himself to try and get more warmth. "T-Thanks." The doors closed behind him gently, the temperature in the room subtly going up.

It was only a few seconds before he saw the Ghostwriter round the corner, rubbing his eyes and generally looking as bad as Danny was feeling. He probably shouldn't have stayed hidden in the Far Frozen for as long as he had. "G-G-Ghostwriter?"

As soon as he heard his name the bookworm's gaze snapped up, eyes widening at seeing the young ghost.

"Danny! I was- Are you shivering? I thought you had an ice core?" As far as Andrew knew ghosts with ice cores did not experience the cold, at least not in the way that others ghosts did. Feeling a flash of panic at the thought of the younger being sick Danny let out another shudder.

"S-Sorry. W-Was in the F-F-Far Frozen for l-longer than n-normal." Andrew flew closer, carefully lifting the teen's head up. The skin was paler than normal, and his eyes seemed to have a dazed look to them. It was nothing too bad but if he didn't warm up soon there was the chance of him getting very ill. "E-Ever s-since I l-l-left actually."

"Ever since yo- That was noon yesterday!" Andrew shouted, looking panicked. Danny just blinked before looking down at his wristwatch, which had been a gift from Clockwork. As such the watch was rather resistant. To everything. "It's eight o'clock at _night_, Phantom. You've been in that tundra for over thirty hours?!"

"...oops?" Danny hesitantly tried, Andrew sighing roughly and grabbing his hand. Danny didn't even up a fight as he was pulled into the library, passing various rooms before they stopped in what looked like a large sitting room. Danny must have zoned out for a few seconds since when he blinked the Ghostwriter was sitting him in front of a roaring fireplace and throwing a blanket over his shoulders. "T-T-Thanks."

"Don't move until you can talk without stuttering from cold," the ghost instructed, watching as Danny snuggled into the blanket and curled up in front of the fire like a large, lazy housecat. Letting himself transform back into his human state he shuddered violently until the heat finally seeped in. Minutes passed and Danny found himself slowly warming up. By the time Andrew finally spoke the halfa was almost asleep.

"Sorry." Shaking himself awake Danny blinked and looked towards Andrew, who was scratching the back of his head and staring into the fire. He glanced towards Danny and then back to the fire. "For what I said yesterday. No matter how angry I was it was wrong to take it out on you and say what I said. It was rude, and cruel."

Brain still foggy from hours of cold and no sleep the words finally clicked, the teen's eyes widening. He was apologizing? "It's not your fault, I'm the one who started everything!" Climbing up he managed to get into a position where he looked like he was a mound of blankets with a head. He supposed the sight must have been amusing since Ghostwriter was struggling against a smile. "I'm the one who should be apologizing, I made things worse-"

"No I was the one who started everything with my words and as such-"

"GW, shut up and accept my apology, this was my fault and-"

"You are so _stubborn_. How about _you_ shut up while I apologize?!"

"Because it's my fault!"

"No, it was mine!" At the end the two were glaring at each other before they realized they were fighting over who was _apologizing_. Blinking Andrew was the first to let out a giggle, Danny following after. Within seconds the two were side-by-side on the floor, laughing loudly and trying to get themselves under control. Laughter slowly dying the two once again stared into the fire, Danny glancing over to Andrew.

"'The blame lies in both parties, so how about we agree to forgive and forget, yes?'" Andrew looked up at that, surprised that Danny had remembered the words he had said months ago when they had first started their tentative friendship. Danny just smiled, readjusting his blanket to where he was comfortably warm.

"Heh, I'd like that." The silence was back for a few minutes before Andrew spoke up again. "You really are, you know." At Danny's questioning look he smiled. "My friend, my only one, at that. And I do care for you I just- I'm not very good, at dealing with relationships of my own."

"You can make a love story that makes me cry, and yes Andrea and Peter's story did do that, and yet you have this hard a time saying you care about a friend?" Danny questioned, although it wasn't rude. It was more amused than anything. "You need more social interaction."

"Yes, well, I get enough of that from you, now don't I? ...The story made you cry?" Andrew prodded, laughing as Danny blushed and hid his face deeper in the blankets.

"It was _really_ good, okay?!" The comfortable, peaceful quiet between the two of them was back now that they had apologized. Ghostwriter wasn't quiet sure how the fight had started anymore, but he knew it didn't quite matter. Like Clockwork had said, things would fall into place, given time.

Danny yawned, staring at the fire and slowly drifting off. It was so nice to be in front of a fireplace again. Maybe just a small nap wouldn't harm anything. Eyes almost completely closed he glanced over at Andrew, who was still staring at him. It wasn't like when he stared at a random point and spaced out, mind working through a novel. No, this was the ghost staring _at_ him.

The last thing Danny managed to catch, before his eyes were too heavy to even try opening, was the other's expression. A contemplative one, as if he was working out something that he couldn't quite grasp. Feeling a light touch on his hair, as if it was being petted or ruffled Danny made a small humming noise, leaning into the touch. A quiet laugh, another ruffle, and he was gone into sleep.

Later. He would think about his relationship with Ghostwriter later. Just now, for right now, he would keep things like they had been. Just for a little while longer.

* * *

Danny is not so much as clueless here as he doesn't want to learn the truth. And Ghostwriter is just stubborn. And Andrew is pretty much the fanon name for him, so, yes.


	7. Music Store

Heh, internet was out yesterday so I all I did was write. Two-for-one day! Enjoy some rather shippy moments between these dweebs.

Also, song Danny is singing in the beginning is something I wrote a while ago...I got bored and wrote a rock song. Don't ask.

* * *

**Music Store **

**::**

"_Ye~ah we built this city on Rock n' Roll, never gonna pay the price but maybe the toll. Gonna get down and dirty with my boys tonight, you better believe that this is our fight!_" Daniel James Fenton had the rather troublesome habit of bursting out into song whenever he heard one he recognized. The fact the store he worked at had classic rock playing constantly only seemed to encourage him.

The small, ancient radio played on, tucked away into the corner of the small music store Danny had been working at for a few weeks now. The job payed well enough he supposed, not to mention it was the only place that would hire him. That and the hours allowed him to still do his tutoring and ghost hunting, so that was a plus.

Currently shelving CDs, and a few records, Danny hummed and danced to the song, doing a few simple spins and steps. He may not have been the best dancer but he knew enough to get him by. Hearing the song build up to the chorus he missed hearing the gentle tinkling of the bell over the door, signaling the arrival of a customer.

"_Yeah it's Rock n' Roll nation! Gonna hit it up station by station! Gonna fight and claw and kick and scratch, gonna fight until we win the match! Cause this is a Rock n' Roll nation~ Yeaaah this is a Rock n' Roll nation!_" Finishing the chorus off with a spin he had perfected at his parent's annual disco night reunions he grinned.

"That spin was very disco of you, and trust me, I would know. I had to live through the infernal era, after all." Danny yelped, slipping on the aged tiles and crashing to the floor, reading glasses flying off his face. Groaning loudly he slipped his glasses back on and pulled himself up by one of the record stands, looking to see who had spoken. "Not the most graceful finish."

"GW!" Danny was over in a blink, hugging the ghost tightly. Although, he wasn't exactly a ghost. He was in his human illusion, and wow, he had forgotten how hot a human Ghostwriter was, especially with tanned skin and the squared glasses he had gotten to replace his broken oval ones. "Are you younger?"

It was a valid question, seeing as how the ghost was a few inches shorter than his normal appearance, and his goatee seemed to be missing. There was a hint of stubble but not much. Overall he looked to be no older than a seventeen-year-old high school student. Ghostwriter blinked at the question, slightly grinning as Danny finally released him from the hug.

"It would appear so. I was experimenting with the illusion to see if it was possible to appear younger than my physical age." Danny nodded, eyes flickering up and down. It was unfair, far too unfair. Ghostwriter should not look that hot, not when he was questioning everything he had ever felt towards the man.

"Okay, that makes sense, but I thought you never left the library," Danny smirked, hands on his hips as Ghostwriter merely grinned in return. "Something about how dealing with the stupidity of others wasn't worth your time."

"Something remarkably similar to that, at least."

"You ass," Danny laughed, Ghostwriter readjusting the hold on the bag he was carrying. Danny's eyes flickered towards it, he couldn't tell what it was at first glance but he was willing to bet his ghost powers that it was filled with books.

"Rude but true, and I leave the library every now and then, although not often. I have to say though, the bracelet makes it remarkably easy to visit the human world and not cause unwanted attention." Danny spied the bracelet wrapped snugly around the ghost's wrist, looking like nothing more than an accessory. "Your _ghostly father_ seemed to think I would find use in it."

"Yeah, he does- You know Clockwork?!" He...had not expected that. At all. He also hadn't expected Ghostwriter's groan and look of absolute annoyance. "That bad?"

"Oh Phantom you have _no_ idea. Every time I've had the _pleasure_ of coming into contact with him he's given me nothing but trouble and anxiety." Danny chuckled, scratching the back of his head and displacing the moss green skull cap he was wearing. Fixing it out of habit he looked back to the ghost.

"Yeah, he tends to do that. He causes as much trouble as he fixes, although he'll deny the causing part." Ghostwriter nodded, Danny noticing he still seemed to be thinking on something. "What's up?"

"How exactly is Clockwork your father?" Ah. He could see where that would confuse him, it had confused him at first too. Clasping his hands behind his back, and slightly rocking on his heels, Danny launched into his explanation.

"It's a really long and complicated story but the short version is that I had to get my powers from somewhere." At the dry stare he snorted. "Okay, not that much of an explanation I guess. Basically I got my ghost powers because I was in the Fenton Portal when it was turned on. I got zapped by tons of electricity which should have killed me. Because Clockwork was standing on the other side of the portal though, the Ghost Zone side, it instead caused me to gain my halfa powers. So he's sorta my father from Phantom's perspective and my mentor from Fenton's perspective. It's kinda complicated and when I think on it too long it starts to hurt my brain."

Ghostwriter was silent for a few moments before he finally spoke up. "That...does sound rather confusing, actually." Danny just nodded, trying to put the thoughts out of his mind, before he started to get a headache. Again. "New question then, why are you wearing a hat?"

"Oh, that," Danny snorted, rolling his eyes. "Owner, that's what she likes to be called, for some reason. Anyways, she makes us wear them, when I asked it was something about it being ironic?"

"Hell yeah it is!" The two glanced back at the new voice, a woman coming out of the back room and looking no older than a college student. "Irony man, it's perfect." Danny, turning his back on the woman, rolled his eyes. Ghostwriter shook his head, slightly smiling. "No disrespect from you!"

"What? Me? _Never_," Danny gasped, sounding offended. The sarcasm was thick in his voice and it had the bookworm biting his cheek to keep from laughing. As the owner walked over Ghostwriter could see she was wearing a look between rocker and skater, and had her own skull cap on. Beneath it he could see fiery tufts of a pixie-cut hairstyle.

"Anyways, ignoring the brat, it's nice to finally meet a friend of Danny's. He never brings anyone around the store," Owner smiled, shaking Ghostwriter's hand enthusiastically with enough force to send his glasses flying. Ghostwriter lamented on the fact that the situation seemed to be occurring far too often for his liking.

Danny managed to quickly catch the glasses before they hit the floor, having some practice, before giving them back to the book ghost, who thanked him quietly. "Seems to think I'm an embarrassing boss."

"Gee, I wonder why that is," Danny mumbled, huffing as the woman lightly hit the back of his head.

"Don't be smart, brat." Danny just rolled his eyes again, shaking his head. Ghostwriter noticed they seemed less like boss and employee and more like brother and sister. "Now, be polite and introduce me."

"Yes ma'am." Looking towards the disguised ghost he grinned, "As you know this is Owner, I don't know her real name since she refuses to tell me. She's also insane-"

"Insane as a cat brainwashed by wolves."

"And that right there is a point proven," the teen snickered, "Owner, this is my friend-" Oh yeah. Ghostwriter wasn't exactly a common name. Looking towards the ghost for help he quickly received it.

"Andrew. Andrew Riter. It's nice to meet you," Andrew smiled, looking the picture of an innocent and friendly bookworm nerd. A hot as hell nerd that had actual muscle definition, but still.

"Nice to meet you too, Andrew," Owner smiled, glancing at Danny and smirking. "Friend, huh? You sure about that? I mean, you have to admit he's rather-"

"Ah, okay, enough!" Danny cut her off, the woman laughing loudly as she retreated to the back room. The two watched her go as she threw a wave back.

"Have fun you two." Disappearing through the curtain it was only a moment before her head popped back out and stared at the two seriously, "But not too much fun." Instead of a response Danny just groaned, moving to continue where he had left off shelving. Waiting until he was sure the woman had stopped listening he turned back towards his friend, who had wandered over to the small classical section they had.

"So...Andrew. Is that another pen name?" The ghost had a lot of them so he wouldn't be surprised if it was. Not hearing a response Danny looked to where the other was standing and going through CDs. His face was closed off so the teen wasn't quite sure _what_ he was thinking.

"No, it's not. Andrew Riter is my real name, albeit one I don't give often." Andrew, huh? So that was the Ghostwriter's name. He had wondered but never knew how to ask. "It's unlikely anyone today knows my real name, save a few." Like Clockwork and the Observants, who knew everything, and his half-brother Randy who was skulking around the Ghost Zone doing who knew what.

Danny quietly stared at the shelf for a few seconds before slowly grinning. "Andrew, huh? It suits you." The ghost glanced over at that, looking surprised, "It just...works." Andrew Riter. Danny pushed away the returning, confusing feelings. The last thing he needed was to think on those right now.

"Well, it is my name, after all," Andrew smirked, Danny chuckling. It was only moments until Owner popped her head back in again, can of Red Bull in her hand.

"Oh yeah! Almost forgot, fifteen minute break-"

"YES!" Not wasting another second Danny grabbed Andrew's hand and pulled him towards the door, the ghost too surprised to fight back. "Be-back-soon-showing-Andrew-the-coffee-shop!" The boy's words were so garbled Andrew could barely make them out, and he was used to Danny's rather fast speech.

"Have fun on your date!" the woman called out, snickering as Danny stuck his tongue out at her. Andrew rolled his eyes at the childish gesture as Danny pulled him out the door.

"Shut up! It's not a date!" Finally releasing his hand Danny grumbled a few rude words under his breath, in Latin. Slipping his name tag and reading glasses into his pocket he sighed, "Sorry. She's nosy. Worse than Jazz sometimes." Andrew just nodded, finally studying the other's outfit now that he could see it clearly.

And, wow. He was supposed to see Danny as his friend and student, not someone who looked rather, well, hot. With his outfit he looked more his age of fifteen, even with his height. Andrew was very thankful he was good at hiding his emotions. "A ripped black t-shirt under a white long-sleeve? Really, Phantom? That cliché?"

"Hey, don't look at me," Danny denied, huffing. "Owner said that was the uniform style and Sam was only too happy to help, she also forced me to wear my reading glasses during work since I look better that way, apparently." Well, his friend hadn't been wrong. The style was a mix between grunge and skater, and glasses only made the teen seem older. And cuter.

"Well, at least the cuffed leather bracelet and faded blue jeans fit you." Danny let out a whine, bumping the other's shoulder wish his. He'd rather not think on his outfit, he just felt embarrassed by it. Sam was trying to get him to wear it to school, which he would never do. Ever.

"GW, shut up," Danny huffed, slight flush on his face from embarrassment. "I feel like such a skater right now you have no idea. Skull cap, faded jeans, ripped shirt, leather bracelet. All I'm missing is a skateboard, and, you know, the ability to skate."

"You certainly look like a skater," Andrew agreed, patting the other on the back. "So where exactly are we going?" Walking down the sidewalk, and getting a few looks from others, Danny tucked his hands into his pockets.

"There's this place around the corner where you can get coffee, although it's kinda gothic. I only know about it cause Sam introduced me to it," Danny explained, the two rounding the corner and seeing the building almost immediately. "Poetry, coffee, small goth bookstore, something like that."

"Sounds interesting." Danny nodded, the two walking in silence for a few seconds before Danny finally asked the question that had been burning on his mind since he had found out the ghost's real name.

"Exactly what are my chances of being able to call you 'Andy'?" Andrew didn't even break his pace as he responded immediately, pleasant smile on his face.

"If you even try I'll trap you in a book filled with multitudes of plot holes, poor grammar, inconsistencies, and no character development whatsoever." Danny thought the words over, nodding quietly.

"So, like Twilight, then, right?" The two were completely silent before Andrew broke first, a chuckle slipping past. Soon the two were laughing loudly as they reached the door, trying to calm down before they went inside. Still giggly, even after a few seconds, Andrew got the door, Danny walking in and trying to keep his breath even.

"Yo! My usual order and then a straight-up black coffee with three sugars," Danny ordered, the other blinking in surprise. Danny seemed to notice since he grinned, slightly chuckling. "What? You don't think I know how you drink your coffee? You've made it the same way every time since I've known you, and probably longer."

"Ah, Danny. Rockin' the skater look today I see," the man behind the counter smiled, fixing the coffees with practiced ease. Danny grimaced at the comment, Andrew trying not to chuckle but ultimately failing. It was hardly his fault an irritated Danny was so adorable.

"Not by choice, believe me." Patting his pockets to find his wallet he blinked as he saw the money for their order was already on the counter. Glancing at Andrew he narrowed his eyes. "Unfair."

"I have no clue what you mean," the ghost smiled pleasantly, Danny trying to stay annoyed. A person's smile should not make him feel that giddy.

"Next time I'm paying," the teen insisted, Andrew's lips slowly curling into a mischievous smirk. And, wow, no. Just no. Danny had to work on not releasing his whine at that smirk. Smiles made the bookworm look adorable but smirks? No. Andrew was doing very questionable things to his mind and it was starting to make him crazy.

"Next time, hm? I'd like that." The bartender coughed awkwardly, drawing their attention as he rang up their order. Andrew went back to looking at the books that were scattered around the room while Danny fought against the bright blush on his face. Today was not his day.

"Thanks Ted," Danny mumbled, the man nodding and fighting a smirk.

"So what, no gothic queen with you today?" Usually the only time he saw the boy was when he was with his friend Sam, who was a hit with the other patrons. Danny groaned, scratching the back of his head.

"Sam refuses to come with me anymore until I learn to sit still for longer than seconds at a time." Ted laughed, handing them the coffee and change. Andrew took his coffee and slipped the change into his back, heading for an empty table with Danny following him.

"Enjoy your date!" Danny's response was a pained whine. Maybe one day someone would see him and Andrew together and not think they were on a date, although it had been worse today where the ghost looked so much closer to his age.

"Stop, please." Looking towards Andrew he sighed in relief at seeing that the ghost hadn't seem to notice the comment, too busy making notes of books he would have to come back and purchase. Taking their seats Danny took a sip of his coffee and hummed at the taste. The Skulk and Lurk was the best place he had managed to get coffee from, although this one tasted a bit different than usual. "So, what brings you to the human world today?"

"Book shopping, of course," Andrew smiled, gesturing to the bag that Danny could now see was filled with different books, most of them rather new but a few aged ones. "On the way through the Zone however I ran into Ember, who told me where you worked now."

"Ember and Kitty know everything about everyone. I'm sure of it," Danny muttered into his coffee, taking a sip. He would have to get revenge on Ember for ratting him out. Maybe dye her hair green and watch her freak out while Kitty looked on insulted. Yes. That would be a good-

"Prank Ember and you'll have to deal with a rather over-protective ghost mate in the form of Skulker." Danny groaned at that. Skulker. It wouldn't even be worth it to mess with Ember if he had- Ghost mate?

"Wait...Ghost Mate? Do I even want to ask?" Andrew blinked at that, frowning as he wondered how to explain. It was appalling at times just how little Danny knew about the ghost world. "And was I really that obvious?"

"First of all, yes. You were. Second of all, ghost mates are, as you would imagine, the mates of other ghosts. Each ghost, once a part of the Ghost Zone, has the instinctive need to find their mate. Some find them almost immediately, like Johnny and Kitty." Oh, that made sense, Danny supposed. Those two were always glued at the hip, and even when they fought they were always together the next time Danny saw them. "Others take a while, like Skulker and Ember."

"So it's like a soul mate then? Right?" Andrew nodded, taking a sip of his own coffee. Frowning he glanced down at it and then reached over for Danny's cup. Danny just watched, small smile on his face as Andrew drank from his, nodded at the taste of the coffee, and then switched their cups.

"Remarkably similar, yes. Ghost mates often have a connection between their cores, a link that ties them together. If a ghost is powerful enough they can bring it into existence, but never for long periods of time." Danny nodded, drinking the switched coffee and noting that it was sweeter, meaning they had probably mixed up the wrong cups back at the counter.

The fact that switching their cups, which they had already drank from, was so normal should probably bother him. As it was he only brushed it off, still thinking on what Andrew had told him. "So it's like the human's red string of fate, right? That soul connection that ties them throughout time, space, fate, and all that?"

"In a sense," Andrew smirked, fingers tapping an absent rhythm on the table. "I'm not sure if I can give a sound definition, seeing as I have yet to find my mate." Well, that was interesting information. The fact that his brain had screamed something about him having a chance he would refuse to think about. Ever.

"Hm, wonder if I have a mate," Danny mused, staring at his cup. "I'm only half-ghost so who knows. Not like the effects of half-ghosts are well documented. The only other one in existence is a jerk who's obsessed with my parents." It could always be worse, he supposed. Vlad could be obsessed with getting his Dad and killing his mom, which, yeah, that was a creepy thought.

"Well, maybe you do and maybe you don't. I suppose you'll find out eventually." Danny nodded, casting his mind for another subject. For some reason talk about ghostly mates and soul mates was making him uncomfortable. And confused.

"So how often do you come to the human world on your book hunts?" Andrew half-shrugged, thinking it over.

"I suppose every few years, although the bracelet was a great deal of help this time around, as was the Fenton portal. Used to I would have to use Plasmius', who gives me the creeps." Danny snorted at that, nodding his head. Vlad was a creep himself. "I also used to have to wait until comic conventions, due to my ghostly state and all."

It took a few seconds for the words to sink in but when they did Danny had spit out his coffee and fallen out of his chair from laughter. He got a few dirty looks from the quiet, depressing goths around him but ignored them. It was just too funny. The thought of his quiet and people-shy bookworm at a convention. Wait- His?

"It's not that funny, Phantom," Andrew shook his head, reaching Danny a few napkins to wipe his chin and clean up the coffee that he had spat out. Finally calming down, and wiping up his mess, Danny retook his seat, pushing the possessive thoughts out of his head and instead focusing on the thought of the ghost surrounded by people in cosplay.

"Oh GW, yes. Yes it is. It's hilarious." He manged to stay in his seat for a few seconds before fidgeting and switching to the one beside Andrew. The ghost raised an eyebrow, confusion only growing when the teen sighed and moved back to the seat he had been in.

"Are you incapable of sitting still for longer than ten seconds?" Danny flinched at that, nervously rubbing his arm. He really needed to work on staying still. He as okay sometimes but as soon as he moved he couldn't go back to staying still.

"Er, sort of. It's also why Tucker and Sam refuse to go to the movies with me anymore. They said I'm too fidgety." As to prove his point and moved around in his seat again, as if unable to find a comfortable position. "It didn't used to be this bad, I mean, I've always been pretty hyper but at least before I could sit still when I wanted to."

"Hm," Andrew hummed, staring at the boy curiously. "Is it possible it's due to the ghost fights?" At the teen's blank expression he continued. "Well, your body is used to moving and expanding high amounts of energy, is it not?" Danny nodded, he did fight a lot of ghosts, and daily. "Well you've been participating in ghost fights for almost seven, eight months now?" Another nod.

"Well with how often you use your powers and energy it's possible that when you're staying still, and have energy to spare, you're not quite sure what to do. You're so used to burning off energy and being in battle that the thought of sitting still is all but foreign to you now."

The two fell silent, Andrew grinning as he watched Danny work out what he had said. He could always tell when his student was working out a problem. "That...actually sounds possible. It would make a lot of sense."

"Hm, yes. Now we just need to work on getting you to stay still." Danny blinked at that, nervously smiling as he half-shrugged. Andrew wouldn't have been the first to try and get him to stay still, many others had tried, even his parents. Of course their well-meaning attempts, which involved another insane Fenton contraption, ended up making him paranoid for a week.

"Good luck. Others have tried before you, and failed." Danny watched the ghost smirk, finishing off his coffee.

"Yes, well, I am not others." Danny would have to figure out his feelings soon, especially if seeing a smirking, human Ghostwriter was making him come very close to blushing. Glancing at his wristwatch in distraction he frowned at seeing his fifteen minutes were almost up.

"Bleck, gotta get back to work. If I'm late getting back Owner will get pissy. Again." Tossing his cup in the nearby bin he blinked as Andrew's followed, the ghost now standing beside him.

"I'll walk you back, then."

"Wha- Really?" Shrugging the ghost smiled, a small, shy smile that just made Danny even more frustrated.

"It's the least I can do, since you offered to pay for coffee the next time." Danny smiled, the two walking back to the store in content silence, Danny slipping his name tag and reading glasses back on when they got close. When they arrived back at the music store Andrew pulled the door open for him, Danny rolling his eyes at the action. The two then blinked as they saw Owner standing in the doorway with crossed arms, a large smirk on her face.

"Enough boyfriend time Danny-boy, time to get back to work!" Danny, instead of showing annoyance at the ghost being mistaken for his boyfriend yet again merely blushed brightly, a few stammered words escaping. Andrew, noticing the reaction, merely raised an eyebrow. Odd. That was not the teen's usual reaction to this sort of situation.

Danny, pushing the laughing woman back into the building, blushed as he looked back at Andrew, "S-S-Seeya after work, t-tonight, um, t-thanks for visiting, and coffee, and stuff." Andrew nodded before getting a wicked idea, really it was just cruel. He had to do it.

Taking Danny's hand, who was too flustered to do anything, Andrew bent over and placed a gentle kiss on the back of the teen's hand. Looking up over his glasses he grinned sharply at Danny's rather red face. "A pleasure as always, Danny." Letting the teen's hand go the ghost sent him a wink, heading towards Fenton Works with his bag of books in hand.

Danny watched for a few seconds before he slowly suck to his knees, collapsing in the doorway with his face a bright red, which, yeah, with his ice core that took some doing. Vaguely hearing a low whistle he whined.

"Wow. You snagged yourself quite a man," Owner grinned. "Hot, pleasant, and acting like a gentleman? Let me tell you kid, if I was younger, and actually straight, I would so fight you for him." Danny, instead of saying anything, merely remained silent. Something was happening, things were changing between him and his friend and he wasn't quite sure what to do about it.

He had a feeling through that things were just beginning.

A few blocks away Andrew was flying through the air invisibly, having finally turned off his illusion. Soaring through the air he lightly chuckled. From what he had seen Danny would remain clueless to the situation for a while yet, and if that was the case he might as well have a bit of fun.

Just while waiting for him to realize things.

* * *

Andrew is an evil ass, he enjoys seeing Danny suffer like this. But yeah, Danny is starting to realize he might have a thing for his best friend and tutor.

And Andrew is just waiting for Danny to realize everything, because he's a writer. He saw this coming when he agreed to meet his parents.


	8. Ghost Nip

I AM BACK! Sorry for such a long break, I got stricken down with the flu of all things. Ugh. Terrible. Anyways, on tumblr the Ghost Nip headcanon is going around again, and how could I resist that? So enjoy!

* * *

**Ghost Nip**

**::**

"Hm, only a few new books this time, huh Sylvia?" Andrew looked up from his browsing of books to the ghost he was talking to, who had her arms crossed in obvious annoyance.

"Fuck you too, Ghostwriter. It's not as easy getting books from the human world as you make it seem!" Andrew merely grinned, adjusting the strap of the messenger bag he was using for the day. "You just love rubbing it in at every Ghost Market, don't you?"

"Now Sylvia, you should know me by now," the book ghost smiled, pushing his glasses up. "To suggest I purposely make things hard for you, how rude." The female ghost, eyes glowing a blazing red, huffed as she resisted the urge to slap the hell out of the smirking ghost. It was harder to resist for her than it should have been.

"I can see why you don't have a mate yet you asshole." Turning her back she missed Ghostwriter's slight flinch. "Which is a shame because if you got laid maybe you would be less bitchy. Besides, if you don't like the books we have then why do you come?"

"I never said I don't appreciate your books," Andrew defended, looking around at the other stalls at the market place. The Gypsy Ghost Market assembled once every few weeks and traded whatever they had managed to collect from their trips to the human world. "And you know this place inspires some of my best dialogue."

"Ugh, you writers I swear," Sylvia grumbled under his breath, straightening her booth of books which Ghostwriter had been browsing. She was never too rude to the book ghost, since he was one of the few who came to see her books. Most were interested in snacks, weapons, or technology. "The day you find a friend is the day I die."

"Well it's a rather good thing you're already dead, now isn't it?" Andrew smirked, checking his wristwatch for the time. Danny would be by the library in an hour or so, which would give the ghost time to show him the Market. He had made it his mission to teach Danny as much about the Ghost Zone as he could, since no one else was willing.

"Is that a watch? Since when do you wear a watch?" Sylvia asked, managing to just resist grabbing the man's arm. "Last time I offered to trade you a watch you scoffed and said never in your afterlife!"

"It was a gift from that friend of mine." Smiling Andrew tapped the glass absently, "He was experimenting making his own watches with his mentor and gave me one of them." Looking up he frowned at Sylvia's smirking expression. He had a bad feeling about that. "What?"

"Oh god you finally fell for someone. Finally! Is he cute? Well? Is he?!" Before the ghost could even get a word out in argument he felt an arm slung around his shoulder. Glancing back he paled at seeing it was Johnny 13, Kitty right behind him, identical grins of mischief on their faces.

"Oh not you."

"Oh Sylv, you have no idea! He's got it bad for the kid," Johnny grinned, Andrew doing his best to discreetly wiggle out out of the grip. Kitty was on his other side though, trapping him in. Great. His second death would be from embarrassment.

"**ANDY ANDY ANDY ANDY!**" All four ghosts blinked, looking up at the white streak zooming overhead and screaming. Andrew was the first to pale. He knew that voice.

"Andy? Who's that?" Kitty asked, confused. She thought she knew every ghost but she had never heard one called Andy. Beside her Andrew tensed, worried more than ever. If he could just get away.

"**AAAAANDYYY!**" A blur of light and the three ghosts blinked as the Ghostwriter was tackled to the ground, Kitty just managing to catch the bookworm's messenger bag that was full of books. Groaning Andrew blinked and scowled at realizing that whatever had tackled him was still clinging to him. Persistently. Ready to yell, and ask how the ghost knew his name, he stopped at seeing a tuft of white hair. He only knew one ghost with white hair like that.

"Is- Is the kid _purring_?" Johnny asked uncertainty, not sure what to do as he watched Danny snuggle into Andrew's chest, tail curled tightly around the bookworm's waist.

"Well, it's certainly not unlikely," Andrew grumbled, trying to pry the grinning and giggling ghost off of him. "A few ghosts' cores allow them the ability to make a thrumming noise that sounds very similar to that of a purr, although I didn't know he could do it." Hearing chuckles the ghost groaned at seeing two more ghosts had joined them, and it was Skulker and Ember. Joy.

Before he could think of a way to escape Danny suddenly jumped from him to Kitty, hugging her tightly. "Kiiittttyyy~ Nice nice Kitty~" Kitty's amusement seemed to win out over her annoyance since instead of pushing the ghost off she just patted his hair. "Ooo, scary lady."

Andrew looked up from fixing his scarf and glasses at that, frowning as he saw Spectra was inspecting the boy. After a few seconds of staring at him with a frustrated expression the woman huffed. "How annoying. All his negative emotions are gone. I mean, he always has negative emotions! Self-loathing, fear, doubt, hate, anger, he's a gold-mine! Especially since recently he's been giving off a feeling of uncertainty." Here she looked towards Andrew, who just glared at her in return. "Now he's as happy as a cat on cat nip."

"Well, better them him sulking all over the Zone," Ember pointed out, squeaking as she suddenly had the small teen around her shoulders and batting her fiery hair like a kitten would. "Ohmygosh such pretty fire~" Andrew had to work on not laughing at that, he was sure Danny was going to regret all of this later. If he remembered what he was doing, of course.

"Get. Him. Off," Ember hissed, Skulker immediately picking the teen ghost up by the scruff of his hazmat. The others watched as Danny's tail curled around himself, his arms hanging in front of him limply. Staying still for a few seconds he slowly swung himself back and forth, giggles erupting from his mouth. "Okay, what's the kid high on? It has to be good if he's like this."

"I dunno, do drugs even effect half-ghosts?" Johnny asked, scratching the back of his head with one hand and recording the scene with his phone with the other. He knew drugs didn't do anything for ghosts, he had tried years ago, but he wasn't sure about _half_ ghosts. "Besides, the kid doesn't really seem the type to do anything like that."

"That's because he isn't." The others looked over at Andrew, who had finally spoken up. Sighing he rubbed his forehead, crazy things always had to happen to his Phantom, it seemed. "Skulker, if you would please release him."

"Oh? And just why would I do that?" Skulker asked darkly, slowly grinning. The other ghosts rolled their eyes, they all knew of the mecha's obsession with hunting Danny but it was unlikely the hunter would ever go through with skinning him at this point. He had too much fun in the chase. Locking eyes with the bookworm he blinked in surprise, the others noticing as well.

Andrew's eyes were flashing with a clear possessiveness that every ghost knew, and one not many wanted to fight with. It was the possessive instinct to protect their mate when they were in trouble. Making a small sound of acknowledgment Skulker reconsidered releasing the still giggling halfa. He would rather not get into a fight with a ghost who could rewrite reality when needed.

"So much for not having a mate," Sylvia snorted from her booth, watching the proceedings with a shit-eating grin. She was so glad she was here to see this. Instead of arguing Andrew just shot her a glare before looking back to Skulker.

"I have no qualms when it comes to your hunts, and neither does he. But right now he is not in his right mind, and you know how much power he has. Would you really want to see him fight when he has no control?" Raising his eyebrow Andrew watched the shudders of the others. They all knew Danny was strong, he had managed to defeat Pariah even _before_ he had discovered his ice powers. "Yes. I thought not."

Skulker still seemed to be debating actually releasing the teen, who was now humming under his breath and tapping to the rhythm with his tail. Ember elbowed the hunter, gesturing towards a glaring Ghostwriter, who's eyes were flashing red. "Now, Skulker."

With as much anger as possible Skulker released his hold on the teen, who plopped to the ground and looked confused, eyes trying to focus on the rocks in front of him. Rolling his eyes Andrew coughed, arms held out to catch the ghost teen that launched into his arms. "Yes yes, I'm happy to see you too."

"Andrew~" Danny purred happily, moving to rub their cheeks together and then cuddle into his neck. Andrew rolled his eyes again, only blushing when he saw the other's expressions.

"Andrew?" Kitty questioned. The book ghost stared at her quietly for a second before deciding no, he wasn't even going to try. He was already at his limit today. Looking back down to the ghost, who's tail couldn't seem to stop moving, he sighed. Tilting the teen's head up he frowned at the pupils, which were blown wide. There was only a little of the green iris left, and even that looked dazed.

"Alright little Phantom, what happened to you this time." Giggling Danny kissed the older's cheek, arms wrapping around his neck.

"See see, my parents, they were, um, they were bragging! About this new plant thing! I thought it was bad, like the blood blossoms, yuck!" Danny's expression at the mention of the anti-ghost plant had Andrew biting back a laugh, although he was unable to stop the smile. "But but, this one was cool. It was like, white, and pink, and it smelled reeeaaaallllyyy good! Like, um, like, just, just good! Kinda like you, only less parchment-y." At the giggles from the others Andrew rolled his eyes. Honestly, they acted like children.

"And and! Since it reminded me of you it made me want to see you, so I came here. Cause, cause here is great, and fun, and, um...I forgot what else."

"Ghost nip," Andrew finally muttered after a few seconds of silence. Of course. "Leave it to Phantom to find ghost nip." Gesturing for his bag Kitty handed it over, biting her lip to keep her laughter in. A ghost on ghost nip was a sight to behold, and Danny seemed to take to it quicker than most. Stepping back by Johnny, who was still recording the moment on his phone, she watched as Danny wrapped himself snuggly around Andrew, who seemed used to the action.

"Alright little Phantom, let's head back to the library until this wears off." Danny only nodded furiously, hold around the bookworm tightening. Instead of being put off Andrew merely took to the air, flying towards the library. He didn't bother with any goodbyes, since he had a feeling he would be hearing about this later.

"Did- Did the _Ghostwriter_ just call Danny 'little Phantom'?" Kitty asked breathlessly, still trying not to laugh. Ember had no such qualms since she was using Skulker to keep herself from falling over from her own laughter. Johnny was just typing into his phone, sending the video to Technus so the ghost could upload it to the ghost version of their internet.

"Never have I been so thankful for Technus and his need to give this place internet connection," Johnny grinned, playing the video back on his phone. He was going to hold this over the kid for years.

"Those two need to get together, and soon!" Ember managed to gasp out, still laughing. Skulker was just shaking his head as he kept the woman from falling. Sylvia, who had been mostly quiet for the whole scene, frowned as she looked up.

"Wait...they're not already together? With how they act?! You're kidding, right?" She hadn't seen two lovebirds like that in years! "I don't know what you kids saw but I just saw two sickeningly cute mates."

* * *

Okay, so, first off, the purring thing? Headcanon from HalloweenHowl/DraconicGhost/Hollow. She's awesome and gives me loads of headcanons and story ideas to use. Second of all, this is not one of my better drabbles. But, being sick for a week, and still being sick, tends to mess with your ability to do things. Next one will be better. Promise!


	9. Side Effects

Okay, sorry this took so long to get up here but it took a while to figure out what to do here, and then my Beta's keyboard had issues, but we still got it to you!

And let's all give a round of applause for my new beta, AJ Skye! And now...

Enjoy!

* * *

**Side Effects**

**::**

"Is it possible for you to stay still for longer than a second?" Andrew half-asked, eyebrows raised as he watched the halfa zoom around the innermost room of the library, screaming about flowers of all things. He knew Danny had problems with staying still, most likely because he was used to burning off excessive amounts of energy during ghost fights. But this? This was ridiculous. "WAIT! STOP!"

Too late.

The bookshelf Danny had crashed into immediately came toppling down, knocking the teen to the ground and trapping him underneath. Seeing that the boy hadn't even used his intangibility Andrew cursed, rushing over only to see that Danny was surrounded by fallen books and struggling to get out from under the shelf. His squirming and whining was just making things worse, as far as Andrew could see. "Oh for the love of- Danny!"

Freezing in his escape attempts Danny looked up at his friend, eyes hazy and pupils still blown wide. The ghost nip he had been exposed to unintentionally by his parents had reduced him to acting like a energetic puppy, and one who just barely seemed to listen at that! Seeing he had the teen's attention Andrew continued.

"Now just relax, okay? All you have to do is phase out of this," Andrew explained calmly, frowning when Danny only squirmed under the shelf again. Oh, that couldn't be good... "Danny...can you go intangible?" Danny, in response, only whined and wiggled around again, wincing as one of the books pressed into his spine.

Not sure what else to do Andrew reached down and placed his hands on Danny's shoulders, phasing the teen out from under the shelf himself. Pulling the teen away from the mess he helped him up, almost falling over at the grateful hug he was tackled into. "Alright, so you can't seem to use your intangibility. That's not good. At all." Placing his hands on Danny's cheeks, and turning his head towards him, he frowned. The teen didn't even seem to realize what was going on. "Something tells me ghost nip has a... Well, a slightly different effect, at least on you."

While Danny had been lucid, at least to some degree, at the Ghost Market it seemed on their way back he had become even more drugged, if that was even possible. A unique metabolism due to his half-ghost state could be the cause of this, Andrew supposed. It would certainly explain why he didn't even feel like talking or using his powers.

Danny flicked his tail, which when he noticed Andrew frowned at. Usually by now the teen had deformed his tail into his legs but for some reason he wasn't. Getting a bad feeling Andrew pried the teen off, sitting him down on the couch that was further into the library and that had bookshelves surrounding them in a private and enclosed space, the doors well out of sight.

"Alright Phantom, I'm going to ask you to use a ghost power and I want you to try and access it, okay?"

It took a few seconds but the teen finally nodded, swinging his tail back and forth as he watched the book ghost. "Alright, now, can you turn intangible for me?" Nothing, just the dazed and dopey smile. "Okay, how about invisibility. Can you do that?" Again, silence. "You're really not helping my stress levels here. Can you at least talk?"

"Don' wanna," Danny slurred out, voice somewhat slow and dazed before he jumped up off the couch. A second later and he was flying up the rounded upper levels of the library, weaving in and out of the banisters that ringed the path.

"Well, at least he's not mute," Andrew muttered under his breath, hand moving to rub the back of his neck as he watched the laughing ghost. He wasn't sure if Danny was unable to use his powers or if he was just being stubborn. At a guess he would assume it to be the latter. Ghost nip always did strange things to a ghost but for Danny it seemed the effects were doubly worse. In the worst case he wouldn't even be able to remember himself or any others.

"Wee~" Danny giggled as he moved on to doing loops in the air, looking like nothing more than an excited and innocent child. Andrew couldn't help but slightly smile at that as he took a seat on the couch, glad the teen was at least happy for once instead of always worrying about something. He was almost done with his first year of high school and yet he was still afraid he would fail the grade, even though with Andrew's tutoring the boy had improved leaps and bounds.

"Well...I guess this will wear off... Eventually," the ghost mumbled, resigned, watching as Danny hummed a song in-tune with Vidya. "Too bad there's no Phantasma flowers around...that would at least— Eep!" Andrew would vehemently deny that he made any kind of girl-ish squeak later, but if asked he would blame the fact Danny was suddenly an inch from his face with his dopey, drugged grin.

"Phantaaaasma?" Andrew blinked, watching, as Danny looked at him expectantly. Once he realized what he was asking Andrew could have laughed, nothing stopped this boy's desire to learn new things, apparently.

"Oh, uh, it's a plant that grows in the Ghost Zone, and a rather rare one at that. Sometimes one or two pop up in the human world but not very often, only around high amounts of ectoplasmic concentration. The flower itself is, in it's basics, a calming restorative for ghosts, and a healing plant for ghost illnesses. It can also be used to counteract the effects of Ghost Nip, which you seem to be suffering from right now."

"Booo, I'm _not_ suffering," Danny huffed, Andrew making another squeaking sound as he was suddenly pushed down on the couch and held down by the halfa's weight on top of him. Danny's tail had wound itself firmly around the older's waist, and the teen himself had his hands pressed against the book ghost's chest, leaning over him with a dazed smile. "I'm with you, so I'm happy."

"Y-You- Goddammit Phantom," Andrew muttered, closing his eyes and frowning as he tried to get his blush under control. He knew he had strong feelings for the teen, maybe was even in love with him, but he didn't know he was this bad off. He also knew Danny felt the same way, but it would probably be years before he began to admit it, even to himself.

"Mm...you're cute." Andrew's eyes darted open wide, staring up at the teen who was higher than most drug addicts right now and yet was grinning with his eyes half-lidded. And no. Just no. That boy was doing evil things to him. If this didn't stop soon he was probably going to finish the teen's life off himself. "Andrew~ You should take me on a date."

"D-D-D-Date?!" Oh, there was the urge to escape again. Unfortunately Danny was rather crafty so every time Andrew went intangible to try to escape Danny did the same to keep his grip. So much for not being able to use his powers, Andrew cursed in his head. Out loud he spoke, incredulous tone layering his words, "Have you lost your mind?!"

"Nope!" Danny smirked, popping the "p" loudly. "I care about you, like, a lot. A lot a lot, but I'm usually too scared to say anything. But now I'm not. You know?" At each word said Danny had leaned a little closer until he was just a few inches away from Andrew, who was blushing a bright green. Up to his ears, he might add, and he was still trying to escape. Oh, he hoped to whatever deity there was out there that Danny didn't remember any of this tomorrow. ...Oh, who was he kidding. They were all probably laughing at him right now.

"D-D-Danny, y-you're not yourself right now so I really think you should just um, take a nap, or something, until this wears off, okay?" Andrew had managed to move to where he was sitting up and leaning against the armrest of the couch, although Danny was still far too close for his comfort.

"Aaandrew, I know you care about me too, pretty obvious," Danny giggled, leaning their foreheads together, and moving to wrap his arms around the older's neck to keep him in place. Andrew was in full-blown panic at this point, although he was too stunned to speak, let alone escape. "Like, you actually agreed to meet my parents, that shows you do care, which yeah, I really like that. And then the hand kiss thing? Like, dude, who does _that _anymore? Pretty obvious you like me too."

As Danny talked he was slowly leaning closer until the two's mouths were only a head tilt away, Danny smiling serenely and Andrew not moving for fear of accidentally kissing the boy, which, yeah, he'd probably have a breakdown if that happ- And Danny was kissing him.

It wasn't sloppy, or desperate, or anything Andrew imagined coming out of the drugged up teen, but it was light, and innocent, and sweet, like a first kiss was meant to be between two people. At the same time as the kiss Andrew felt a spark deep in his core and wished his mouth was free so he could start groaning and cursing. So much for not knowing who his mate was.

Before Andrew could begin to do anything Danny pulled back... And then slumped down, ghostly rings passing over him and turning him back into his human half. The teen was passed out from all the effects of the ghost nip in his system, although the dopey smile persisted even in sleep.

Andrew managed to stay where he was for a few more seconds before he slowly sunk down on his couch, letting out a pathetic whine. Throwing an arm over his eyes, and knocking his glasses off, he wondered what exactly had just happened to him.

"Oh please, dear higher deity, don't let him remember any of this." The teen would have a mental breakdown if he knew he had kissed Andrew and confessed to him. At best. A few seconds of silence and Andrew frowned, feeling his lair laughing at him. "Shut up Vidya!"

"**ANDREW!**" The said ghost didn't even get to look up from his book before he was tackled to the ground by a frantic, confused, and frankly, panicked Danny, who looked close to having an anxiety attack, if anything. Seeing the situation the book ghost, who had the knowledge of all the diplomacy books that existed within the past twenty years, said the only thing he could.

"Shit."

"I WAS FIGHTING VLAD AND, AND THINGS WERE GOING TOTALLY NORMAL BUT HE WAS LAUGHING AND CALLING ME NAMES AND THEN HE SHOWED ME THIS VIDEO FROM TECHNUS AND IT WAS ME AND I WAS ALL DRUGGED OUT AND CALLING YOU ANDY, I'M SORRY FOR THAT BY THE WAY, AND I WAS ACTING REALLY WEIRD AND GIGGLING A LOT AND WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED AND WHY AREN'T YOU ANSWERING ME!?"

"Well, for one, you're screaming," Andrew muttered, lightly nudging Danny to let go of him so he could stand. Once he was up Danny immediately started clinging to him again, hanging off his back with his tail around the elder's waist and his arms hooked around his neck. "And two, do you remember anything of yesterday?"

"I remember Mom and Dad wanting to show Jazz and I something downstairs and then it went kinda blank. I just woke up in my bed," Danny mumbled, head sinking down further as if he was trying to hide. Looking behind him as best he could Andrew frowned at seeing Danny looked as if he was going to get yelled at. Sighing he headed over to the couch, prying Danny off of him and sitting him down.

"You did nothing wrong, you were merely exposed to the effects of a plant called Ghost Nip," Andrew explained, Danny paling. Seeing the look Andrew's lips twitched with a small smile, "And yes, it's exactly what it sounds like."

"Oh god," Danny groaned, falling over to hide his face in the cushions. "Oh god what did I do after that market thing or whatever- What even was that?" Rolling his eyes Andrew smirked, it looked like nothing could stop Danny from asking questions that came from nowhere.

"It was the Gypsy Ghost Market, I'll take you later today and let you look around, but as for what happened after..." Andrew had two choices. He could either tell the truth to the already suffering boy and have him panic and enter into a spiral of self-loathing, or, well... "And then I brought you back here to keep you from doing anything too stupid. You flew around the library for a bit, knocked a shelf over, and then fell asleep."

A white lie maybe but one told with the best of intentions. ...Sort of.

"Uh...sorry... The books I knocked over are okay, right?" If Andrew had any lesser control, he probably would have broke down laughing. There was a video Ghost Zone wide about him acting like a two-year-old, and yet he only wanted to know if the books he knocked over were okay.

"Yes, Danny. Yes. The books are fine." One day. One day, he would tell Danny what had really happened in the library after they had returned, how Danny had not only admitted his feelings but kissed him. How he had realized there was a possibility of them being ghost mates. But for now, well, for now he would let the teen hide a little longer. He was forced to do a lot of things, Andrew had realized, but not this time.

This time... It was his choice.

* * *

You all know an accidental kiss had to come eventually, and now, a message from my sweet beta.

_"Flames are welcomed, it makes for a good laugh, and a great dart board, AND it bumps up the review count!"_

Couldn't have said it better myself.


End file.
